Final Fantasy VII: Reverie
by sephlier
Summary: NEW CHAPTER 21 UP! This is the end of the beginning as well as the beginning of the end for a woman who has seen the end. This is her story and her life as recalled by the memories of all who knew her. This story is still in the works.
1. The End Of The Future

"Come, my child." Sephiroth softly purred while reaching his right hand out. "Take my hand and remember with me."

She looked into those beautiful green eyes that were now filled with happiness. A smile crossed his pale lips as she took his hand in hers.

Together they walked through rows of green trees. Sephiroth sat down at the foot of one of the tallest trees and looked up at her. Lieandra's warm green eyes focused on him. She returned his gentle smile and sat between his open legs while still holding onto his hand. She put her left arm around his waist and buried her face in his chest.

"Let's dream together," he paused and kissed the top of her head. "As we did when we were children."

They closed their eyes lost in each other's embrace as they bathed in the white light that shone through the trees. Their life together had begun anew.


	2. Birth

BIRTH

It was something that happened naturally in life. Children were born everyday to new families. In this case, it was a rarity. The parents of this newborn child were of a very special nature. Their blood was mixed with a strong chemical called Mako. This little girl's parents were part of Shinra's top army. They were SOLDIERs.

The birth of her daughter hadn't been very painful due to the blood that flowed through her veins. She was relieved when the fragile child was put into her arms. She wasn't born a monster like some of the other children.

"She's beautiful," said her husband as he leaned over her. "She's got her mother's eyes."

SOLDIER First Class Reann Thompson smiled. The child in her arms was silent. Both of them were exhausted. She was proud that her brother had been able to grant the couple some time off so they could be with their new arrival. She just wished that he could be with them to see his niece.

SOLDIER First Class Tres Thompson kissed his wife on the forehead. He straightened the collar of his shirt. "Uhmm. She's human. Right, doc?"

Reann shifted her child in one arm and punched her husband with the other. "Tres Thompson, how dare you!"

The head of the Shinra science department walked over and studied the child. He took out a tiny piece of yellow paper from his lab coat and put it in the infant's mouth. "This should tell us what we need to know."

After waiting a couple seconds, he removed it and studied it. It was now green in color.

"What does it say," asked the father of the child.

"Other than the fact that she's got Mako in the blood stream? I'd say you've got a healthy baby girl."

The happy couple huddled together as another man in a lab coat entered the room.

"So how is the happy couple?" asked the man as he closed the door behind him.

"They're doing just fine, Professor."

"Professor Hojo, this is SOLDIER First Class Tres Thompson and his wife SOLDIER First Class Reann Thompson."

"Professor Gast has told me so much about you. From what I can see on your faces I trust the child is healthy. That's a wonderful thing in this day and age. Professor what is the gender of the child?"

Professor Gast was known as a fun loving man whose outside life was a private one. It was said that he and Hojo were participants in an experiment halfway across the planet. The details were very sketchy and it was said that the experiment was a success even though half of its crew never made it back to Midgar. He was a short man with light brown hair and a well-kept mustache. Gast walked over to the infant still in her mother's arms. "It's a girl."

"Congratulation's." beamed Hojo. "It's a rare thing to see such a beautiful little child." He reached out to the child and looked at Reann. "May I?"

Reann Thompson smiled and handed the child to him.

Hojo held the girl in his arms. He put one of his fingers to her eye and lifted the eyelid. "Such a strange coloring. They are ahem Mako eyes but such a strange tint."

Gast approached and looked at the child's eyes. "They're green. They're such a beautiful green too."

Tres Thompson straightened up. "What's wrong with her eyes?"

Hojo tipped his glasses. "It's nothing really. The good doctor and I have only seen a couple other cases of children being born with Mako blood and green eyes. I assure that besides her eye color she is a perfectly normal little girl."

There was a squeaking noise as the door began to open. Everyone turned to look and see who was there.

"I'll be right back," said Professor Gast as he headed towards the door. Gast walked out of the room. The look on his face told the others that he knew what was on the other side of the door.

Hojo smiled slightly. "You're about to meet one of the other green-eyed children. He too is very special." The smile faded quickly as Hojo continued to talk. "He's seven years old. He was born in Nibelheim and an orphan at that. The good doctor and I rescued him and brought him back here."

The SOLDIERs looked at each other. Tres Thompson opened his mouth but fell silent when Professor Gast reentered the room. He had a child in tow. The little boy had pale white skin and was dressed in a green t-shirt and black shorts. The child was still pudgy which told his youth but his hair was almost silver in color and his eyes were a glowing aquamarine.

Hojo handed the baby back to her mother and approached the child. He squatted to look the little boy in the eye. "Sephiroth, what are you doing way out here?"

The child frowned as Hojo reached forward to sweep the child's hair out of his eyes. "I heard there's someone new here."

Hojo stood up and pointed over to newborn child still in the arms of her mother.

Professor Gast knelt next to Sephiroth. "It's a little baby."

The little boy put his hands to his head began to rough his hair up. A large smile could be seen on his face as he walked over to the newborn's family. "Hi!" he said happily.

"Hello." Reann smiled. Tres nodded at the boy.

The boy walked in front of the man and leaned over the side of the bed to view the infant. "Wow!" he turned to Hojo, "what is it?"

"It's a baby," said Tres slowly. The silver haired child turned to face him. An angry frown graced the fragile little face only to be covered up by a smile. "I know." the boy said at last. In the brief moment before the boy smiled Tres could almost see a burning anger in those aquamarine eyes.

Reann put her hand on the boys shoulder. "It's a little girl."

The boy shook his head wildly. "A girl!" he gasped. "I'm a boy." His smile grew wider as he threw his arms out to his sides. "I've got a girlfriend."


	3. A Rainfall In Junon

There was a knock at the door.

Reeve was in the middle of washing dishes. His hands soaking wet he cursed. "Who could this be?"

The rain was beating down. He always felt miserable during rainstorms. He grabbed a dishtowel and dried his hands. He threw it down and made his way over to the door and slowly turned the knob.

Three figures stood before him. The one directly in front of him wore a black hat with the mark of SOLDIER above the bill. It was pulled down over his eyes so all Reeve could see was the bottom of the man's nose, his lips and chin. The man also wore a long black trench coat that fell just above his shiny dress shoes. Part of a black SOLDIER dress uniform could be seen poking out from underneath the long leather-like coat.

On either side of the man was a member of SOLDIER. The other two were dressed in the typical bulky SOLDIER gear. The helmets that they wore hid the identity and the gender of the wearer.

The SOLDIER on the left had a large black crate to his left and a long brown rectangular box was on the ground to his right. The SOLDIER on the right had identical boxes but they were positioned exactly opposite of the way the SOLDIER on the lefts was positioned.

The threesome knocked their ankles together and saluted Reeve. "Can I help you?" Reeve asked carefully as he began to frown at the man before him. He hated SOLDIER and everything it stood for. He loved his sister and brother in law though as he remembered that his closest family was members of that organization. He hated the discipline and formalities. To him the money that went into that group should have been put towards the betterment of Midgar's living conditions.

The man in front of him bowed his head, paused, than raised it in a stern nod.

"Sir. I am here to inform you that SOLDIER first class Tres Thomson and SOLDIER first class Reann Thompson were killed in action." The gentleness of the officer's voice did nothing to soothe him. Reeve lowered his head and buried his face in his hands. "This can't be happening." He whispered.

"As a representative of the unit they were assigned to, I have assigned myself to deliver the news of their passing to their last surviving relatives. I am here to provide for the family of the deceased until the day of their burial, sir"

Reeve looked at the hidden face of the man standing in front of him. "You assigned yourself? Just who the hell are you?" he spat.

The man ignored him. "Is the daughter of Tres and Reann Thompson, SOLDIERs first class, Lieandra Jonah Thompson available to hear my report as well?"

"Uncle Reeve, who's there? Are mom and dad back already?" the thirteen year old girl was halfway down the stairs when she noticed the three standing out in the rain.

Reeve looked over at her trying to hide the mix of sadness and anger that was threatening to overtake him. "These gentlemen are here to see us." He managed to say. "It's about your mother and father." Reeve turned his attention back towards the officer. "I…" he paused as he saw a tear trickle down the cheek of the man in black. Dumbfounded Reeve looked at Leira who was now standing at his side.

The man in black raised his right arm high above his head. The two SOLDIERs bent at the knees and swung the large black crates over their shoulders, again exactly opposite of each other.

"We are required to return all items used by the deceased to the surviving family, sir."

Leira scowled at the word deceased. She was still young but the sound of the word sent unpleasant thoughts through her mind. The officer lowered his arm so that it was bent at the elbow and clenched his white-gloved hand into a fist… The SOLDIERs than bent again and picked up the rectangular cases in the other hand. "I have brought an item that the child's mother and father had wished to give her as a gift as well." His first two fingers shot up from the clenched fist and sloped in a pointing gesture towards the interior of the house. The officer in black moved to the side as the SOLDIERs advanced into the doorway. Once inside they stopped and set the boxes down the exact same way as they first had them placed. The officer entered too and Reeve shut the door behind them.

"Dismissed." The man in black said through a solemn face. The SOLDIERs saluted their commander and exited the house.

"Now, just who are you?" asked Reeve, still upset.

The tall man removed his hat slowly to reveal his features. Reeve's eyes flew open in surprise. The little girl beside him dropped her jaw in shock as she viewed the man before her. She put her hands to the sides of her face.

The officer had glowing green blue Mako eyes. His silver hair was pulled tight behind his head. There was a look of arrogance on his face despite his gentle voice. "I am the General of the unit that your sister and brother in-law were part of."

"Sephiroth!" the little girl blurted out in excitement. She ran over to him with her arms outstretched.

Another tear fell from his eyes as he reached out to her. "Leira."

The two embraced. "It's good to finally get a chance to see you again." He said as he kissed her cheek.

"How was Wutai?" she asked curiously.

"Shh. My child, there will be time for that later." Sephiroth looked over at Reeve. "When would you like me to tell her?"

"Tell me what?"

"Do it…Do it after dinner." Reeve tried again to fight back tears. "While you're here, can I take your coat?"

Sephiroth smiled and nodded as he began to slide off his coat.

"What's that?" the girl yelled out as a black ribbon came into view behind the general's neck. Sephiroth removed the coat and handed it to Reeve. He stood before her in his dress uniform. He put his hands behind his neck and removed the ribbon. He shook his head slowly from side to side as his long silver hair was freed. His bangs moved forward to reclaim their place in the front.

"Oh, my gawd!" she drawled as she viewed his long hair for the first time. "When did you do this?" she said grabbing his hair.

"I decided to let it grow out. With all the fighting going on it was kind of hard to get a haircut."

"Wow! It got long didn't it?" she smiled as she reached up and tugged on his bangs.

"Why don't you two go and catch up? I'm going to go and start dinner." Reeve said as he returned to the sink.

Sephiroth stepped over to Reeve. "Would you like me to help? It is part of my mission."

Reeve looked into those Mako eyes and shook his head. "No. I've got it. You go and be with the girl."

A look of confusion appeared on Sephiroth's face. His lips parted, as he was about to explain to Reeve what custom was. "Seph." The little girl chided. The twenty year old shook his head and walked over to Leira. "What's in this box?" she asked picking up one of the rectangular cases.

The case in her hands was long. It was at least six feet in length and was very thin. Sephiroth gently took it out of her hands and sat down on the floor. "This," he said "is a very special item." He opened the case slowly.

Leira stood behind him watching.

A strange white light seemed to come from the case as it began to part.

Leira's eyes went wide with excitement as she got her first glimpse of this curiosity.

In the case was a long silver blade. It was almost like the katanas from Wutai that her mother and father had told her stories about. It had a long black handle which had a fancy black cloth wrapped around it. "It's beautiful." She whispered in his ear.

Sephiroth smiled. "This is my partner. This is Masamune."

"Masamune." Leira repeated slowly. "Can I hold him?" she asked finally.

"I…I don't know." He looked at the blade. It was clearly taller then he was and despite it's frail thin appearance it was heavy and extremely sharp. "I'll help you." He stood up after he took the blade out of its case. He positioned himself behind her and put his left hand on the end of the handle. With his right hand he gently put her left hand on the sword above his own.

Leira felt a strange tingling sensation as her skin touched the sword.

"The blade has it's own mind." He whispered to her. Sephiroth marveled at the awestruck girl. Her innocence was blinding to him. There was so much he admired in her. She was just a simple little girl with long curly brown hair on the outside but for so many years he had felt a deepening connection to her.

"You okay?" Leira asked as she felt Sephiroth stare at her. She pushed her green headband back from her forehead.

The twenty-year-old boy blushed. How long had he been lost in thought? "I'm fine. Would you like to see the gift from your parents?" He slowly removed the sword from her grip and put it back in its case.

"Sure!" she yelped as she started to jump up and down.

Reeve came over to them just as Sephiroth picked up the second case. "I know what's in there. It can wait for now. Dinner's ready." He went back into the kitchen and started filling three plates.

Sephiroth took Leira by the hand and led her to the table. They sat down next to each other as they waited for Reeve.

Leira looked at Sephiroth for a long time. She knew that her uncle disapproved of him she tried to keep her growing feelings for him in check. It had been hard for her to keep her feelings hidden for the man that she loved. She stared at him, admiring his long silver hair and his handsome chin. She also loved his eyes and their unnatural color but her favorite feature was his chin.

Sephiroth caught her looking at him and smiled. She blushed and turned her face out of his view. She saw Reeve staring at her and straightened herself. "What was Wutai like?" she asked hurriedly.

Sephiroth thought for a minute. "It was quite a lovely place before this war started. It is so rich in history. I only wish we were there on friendlier terms. I would love to show you this huge mountain range called Dao Chao. Your mother and father always liked to climb it. There are so many temples there." He paused and looked into her eyes. He opened his mouth to say something and thought better of it.

"What?" asked Leira.

"I'll tell you…one day." He whispered as Reeve passed the plates around.

"I really wasn't expecting company so forgive me if there isn't much for seconds."

"That's fine." Said Sephiroth and Leira in unison. They both laughed and went up to the counter with their plates.

Reeve was an exceptional cook. During visits to the slums the people would often show their appreciation to him by handing him recipes. He had decided to cook up a barbeque plate from Wallmarket.

The three ate in silence. The thought of what the young general had wanted to say lingered in Leira's thoughts. He never really liked to talk about himself. She liked the fact that he wasn't full of himself but when it came to sharing his thoughts or feelings she found herself getting angry too.

When the meal was finished Sephiroth thanked Reeve and helped him put the soiled dishes on the counter.

"So mom and dad are sick?" asked Leira finally. She looked at the two men. "Does this mean their leave is going to be cancelled. You said they're diseased, right?"

Sephiroth heaved a deep sigh and put his left hand over his mouth. It had been so wonderful to see her he had almost forgotten the grim task that lie before him.

"Leira, honey, come sit with me." Said Reeve.

The girl walked over to him and sat on his lap. Reeve nodded at Sephiroth to let him know it was time.

"You're parents aren't coming home…" he lowered his eyes, "they can't."

"Why not?"

"They're not sick, Leira. They…they're dead. They died during a mission that I commanded."

The little girl's jaw dropped as she heard this. Tears had started to flow from her eyes as she pondered this thought.

"Your father had gotten pinned down in a Wutai armory. It was an ambush. Your mother and I responded to an intercepted radio message. He was still alive but just barely…when we arrived Wutai's army was swarming the place. Your mother wanted to be with him. I decided to go against orders from the Shinra higher ups and help her get him out of there. Upon entering the building he was almost gone. There were still more soldiers in there. All the materia in the world couldn't have saved us. Reann put her arms around him and pulled the pin out of one of her grenades. I wasn't close enough to get to them…I did the only thing I could do at the time…" a tear flowed from his eye. "She had told me many times that she couldn't bear to be apart from her husband or you. She said that in the event something happened to them she wanted you to have her weapon. That's what's in the other case."

"They're dead…" Reeve wrapped his arms around her to try and comfort her.

Sephiroth got up from his chair and knelt before them. All he could think to do was take her hand in his. "I'm sorry." He whispered. "I loved them as if they were my own parents. I was so happy when they voluntarily joined my unit."

Leira pulled her hand out his grip and buried her face in Reeves chest. Her sobbing grew stronger as the harsh reality of her parent's death came to her.

"It's okay, son." Reeve said to him. "I'll take care of it from here. You just go upstairs and make yourself comfortable in the guest bedroom."

Sephiroth nodded and ascended the stairs. His proud features were covered by his hair as his head hung low.

Once in the room he slowly began to remove his uniform. After what he just experienced he began to ponder what he was doing in the military. He stood there naked as he began to carefully fold his uniform. He had to keep it clean for the upcoming funeral procession.

He reached into his crate and pulled out a black pair of silk shorts. He put them on and stretched out on the bed. He picked up a book that was given to him when he first entered SOLDIER and began to read. The book was about the many types of materia and the uses for each. He had always found this book silly and outdated and only read it on bad days. He had mastered his materia days after it was given to him. He reached up and dimmed the lamp.

"Sephiroth…" a tiny voice said outside his door.

He looked up from his reading. After what happened he had hoped that Lieandra would not want anything to do with him. He felt guilty about the death of the girl's parents almost to the point of wishing he had died and not them.

The door slowly opened and Leira entered. "I…I wanted to say I'm sorry." Her voice began to break as she looked at him. Her face was still stained from crying. It was difficult for him to see her like this.

"There's nothing to apologize for, my child." He whispered to her.

She smiled and sat down on the bed next to him. He suddenly became unsure of what he should do or say. He began to regret having removed his uniform. He prayed that Reeve would not come up the stairs wondering about where Leira was.

The girl caught his sudden change of expression. "It's okay. He's asleep. I had to see you."

"Why?"

"It's not your fault…you tried to save them, right?"

He looked at his toes. "I couldn't save them. Reeve probably hates me more now. I don't blame him."

"Shh." She put a finger to his lips. "He knows that you did what you could."

Sephiroth's heart began to break as more tears started to flow from Leira's eyes. He reached up to dry one of her tears. He smiled and whispered, "Please don't cry." Tears were starting to form in his eyes as well. He moved closer to her and wrapped his arms around her.

Morning arrived and blanketed Junon in sunlight. Sephiroth shifted in bed as he looked towards the doorway. He extended his arms above his head and looked around for his book. To his surprise Leira was asleep next to him. As he pondered whether or not to wake her she had already begun to stir. He quickly checked his person to make sure he was still clothed; he'd imagine that if Reeve caught him she would surely be lost.

"Uhnn." The little girl moaned as she fought to keep the daylight out of her eyes. She lashed out with her right hand in an attempt to shield her eyes and struck Sephiroth on the shoulder. Confused she sat up quickly.

"You've got quite the arm." he said with a warm smile.

"AGGGHHH! What am I doing here?" Leira blushed.

Sephiroth put his fingers to his lips. "You fell asleep…we both did. I didn't have the heart to wake you."

The girl jumped out of bed and went running for the door. She stopped briefly and ran back to him. She wrapped her arms around him and left.

Sephiroth got up and went through his luggage. He lifted a tiny black book out of his crate and opened it. In the book were photographs of him, his military unit and pictures of Leira's parents and Leira herself. A small piece of paper dropped out. Sephiroth went to pick it up. It was the calendar for the funeral. There were only two more days till the funeral, than he would be sent back to Wutai. "Will this war ever end?"


	4. Trouble In Wutai Part 2 The Fall Of Mae ...

Leira couldn't believe her general had trusted her with the formalities. Where was she again…Mae Mae or Tsing Mae? As she tried to remember where she was she also tried to place the delegates accent. She had wished that they hadn't started with basic for their introduction. It was common procedure first for the delegates to speak in a language all could understand than the Shinra parties, out of courtesy, were to speak in the tongue of the delegates. Leira was fluent with the languages but she never met any of the native people in their own environment. It suddenly became apparent to her that the two countries (Mae Mae and Tsing Mae) were at war with each other and had no idea that the Shinra had been dealing weapons to both sides.

Sephiroth eyed her curiously as she played "eenie-meenie" in the back of her mind. He was becoming increasingly uneasy by her silence.

"We are ready to proceed with our prearranged dealings." She said at last in one of the dialects.

The officers around her dropped their jaws while Sephiroth closed his eyes and slapped a hand over his face. The delegate's faces went from shock to anger in mere seconds.

The poor officer stood there looking at everyone curiously. "Was it something I said?"

"I'm not even going to tell you what you just said to them!" Sephiroth growled.

"You said what about our ancestors?" shouted one of the three delegates.

"They speak in the language of our enemy!" another shouted.

In mere seconds guns were drawn and shots were being fired. A bullet bounced of Leira's helmet and a two shots hit Zack in the right shoulder. Sephiroth hadn't been so lucky he suffered seven shots to the chest and was down. The youngest SOLDIER was shot in the left elbow. The sixteen year old cried out in pain as Zack began to push her into a run.

"Ecka, we've got to keep moving!!!"

"Run!" shouted one of the other officers. The Shinra began to break rank and retreat. Leira and one of the officers hoisted Sephiroth's unconscious body to his feet and started off. Zack rushed to the front to provide cover fire for Leira and the others. Ecka caught Zack's movement and went back to join him. She didn't need both arms to support her weapon. The both of them provided cover for the other retreating members.

"He's bleeding heavily!" the officer yelled to Leira as they ran. "We've got to set him down soon!"

Leira just nodded at him. Her guilt was beginning to overwhelm her. She hadn't meant for the mission to be screwed up but she had to admit to herself that it was kind of funny. In her heart she knew once they found a place to set their general down and patched him up he was not going to be happy.

"They're coming, they're coming!" came the sound of Zack's voice. The six Shinra kept up their hurried pace until they came to a large metal shed. Leira assumed it was the ammo shed where they kept all of their gifts from Shinra. The door was made of metal and very heavy. Zack, Leira and two of the officers were needed to shut the large door. Once it was shut Leira and one of the officers sat down next to the fading Sephiroth the others posted guard.

"How far behind you were they?" Leira asked as she tried to think of a way to heal her general.

Voices could be heard shouting in the distance and they weren't friendly. "Uhm, not to far!" said Zack.

"Anyone have a restore materia?" asked an officer. Everyone searched their bracelets and weapons.

"Nope," came the replies, "not on me."

Leira searched around Sephiroth's person as she removed his long black coat. "He does!" she yelled excitedly.

"Are you out of your mind?" yelled Zack.

"Why?" asked Leira.

"Uhm, ma'am," said Ecka, "his materia is mastered. We were always taught to leave another SOLDIER's materia alone especially if it's mastered."

"Uhm, Zack." Said Leira, "He's dying!" She quickly took his wrist in her hand grabbed his bracelet. She whispered the incantations to activate the little green gem. Everyone watched in awe as Sephiroth's body began to heal itself. Leira smiled as all his life signs were restored. The SOLDIER moved his head a little and opened his eyes. "Where are we?" he asked.

"We're in trouble!" hollered SOLDIER First Class Zack. The locals had reached the shed and began pounding on the door.

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" asked Sephiroth as he eyed Leira.

"I've got an idea!" yelled an officer. "Zack your fire materia use it! Aim it at the door!"

The SOLDIER smiled at his friend and began the words that would activate his materia. A huge ball of fire shot through the room and traveled straight through the door tearing it off its hinges. After the door was blown away the officer ran up to the door to get a glimpse of what was left. There were still more soldiers on the way. "Now what?" he asked.

"Sir, can you walk?" asked Zack.

"I'm alright." Sephiroth said as he got to his feet and put his coat back on. "It's pretty bad isn't it?"

"Oh, just a couple thousand or so!" muttered SOLDIER first class Ecka.

The Great Sephiroth leaned against the wall next to Zack and glanced out. He had hoped that he would have lived longer than this. He had been in some tight squeezes before but there was so much in life that he hadn't experienced. He was very upset with the young woman that had saved his life but he still had feelings for her. There was still so much he wanted to tell her. He looked over at Leira and was suddenly fearful.

Zack looked over at Sephiroth and followed his gaze. "Something wrong, sir?"

Leira was busily reciting an incantation of her own. She sat on the ground cross-legged with her helmet beside her, eyes closed deep in thought.

"Uhm. What's she doing?" asked the SOLDIER.

"She might just be trying to kill us all." Said Sephiroth flatly. "I just hope she worked a bit harder on her summoning."

"Summoning who's she going to call on?" As if in response to his question the sky started to darken and a large creature was now floating outside of the shed. "That's Hades!" yelped Zack. "Does she know how to control him?"

"Not very well!" Sephiroth said back.

Outside the shed the scene was chaotic. Soldiers were running around all over the place. They had fired shots at this new being but nothing stopped it. Hades was now doing his own summoning. He was about to release his cauldron spell.

Inside the shed the Shinra had huddled around Leira. The last time she had summoned Hades she had accidentally ended up poisoning everyone who had gathered for a materia training session including Sephiroth and her uncle. Only Leira was spared.


	5. A Baptism In Junon

Rude and Tseng smiled at each other and picked her up by her ankles and shoulders.

"What the hell do you think you guys are doing?"

"We're just rewarding you for your service," said Tseng.

They carried her over to the end of the airstrip and began to swing her from side to side.

"When I get back up here you can believe that I'm going to be kicking yuse guys' teeth in," she hollered.

"Ready Rude," Asked Tseng.

The tall man smiled and nodded. "Yep." Together they tossed her off the airstrip into the cold waters of Junon harbor. The two men looked over the edge as she fell towards the water.

Rude looked at Tseng. "Y'know, she's really going to kill us when she gets back up here."

Tseng smiled and patted him on the back. "I know, I know. Let's meet her by the elevator."

Rude looked at him and shook his head. "Sure thing, boss."

He took one last glimpse over the edge of the airstrip and followed after Tseng.

Leira's fall was short. She crashed into the water and began to float to the surface.

She was really and truly drunk. It was amazing that she had survived such a fall. She was thankful that they didn't decide to drop her from the Sister Ray. She dragged herself out of the water and onto a rocky ledge. Her blue blazer and pants were soaked. Her hair alone felt like it weighed a ton. "Damn it!" she cursed as she realized that her shoes were missing. She reached down to hold the waistband of her pants up and staggered through the little fishing village underneath the huge Shinra city.

The streets were deserted this time of the evening. Her splashing into the cold sea couldn't have been timed better, yet another thing to be thankful for, she muttered to herself.

There was a guard posted at the elevator at all times. Shinra wanted to make sure that none of the civilians could make their way up to the city above them.

Through his helmet, the guard smiled. The sight before him was wonderfully pathetic. "You okay miss?" he sneered as he wrapped his arms around his waist.

Leira stopped in front of him and lowered her head. Her hair continued to drip as she let go of the waistband of her pants. Her original intent was to put her hands up in a brawler position but she inadvertently dropped her pants in the process. Her waterlogged blue slacks ended up sloshing about her ankles. She looked at the soldier through her wet and tangled mass of hair and let out a huge belch.

This was more than the guard could take. He dropped to the ground clutching himself totally engulfed in laughter.

The Turk just shook her head and belched again. There was no point in kicking him he was already down. Leira reached down and pulled her pants back up. She pushed the button to open the elevator door and entered. It was going to take a few minutes before she made it to the top so she sat down on the floor.

"Long night, eh?"

Leira had assumed that she was alone. Just when her evening had been going along so well. Her company was tall and thin. He had a pair of sunglasses pulled down over his eyes and was dressed in a blue blazer with a white shirt and blue slacks. She had worn the same uniform and at times was still required to wear it. It was the uniform of the Turks. His flame red hair was disheveled and his shirttails were hanging out. She really wanted to comment on one of the clauses in the Shinra manual, "Wear your uniform with pride and dignity" even though she herself did not have much room to talk.

"What happened?" he slumped down next to her.

"…Initiation." Leira mumbled.

The stranger pushed his glasses up to his forehead revealing his blue eyes. "Initiation, into what?! You look like someone pushed you off the airstrip up top."

Leira rolled her eyes at him. "Yep."

"Name's Reno. I think we kinda met already."

Leira looked at him and studied his face. She had indeed seen him before. His young thin face with red reflective make-up under his eyes. The rat-tail. "What's a matter no more soap to throw? I see you decided to put clothes on too." Leira let out a belch and tucked herself into a ball.

Reno got up and hit the lever to the elevator. "I guess we'll be going up now." He sat back down next to her. "The elevator's kind of slow tonight."

"Why would you be on it in the first place? You're a junior. You're not supposed to be going outside the city unless you've got orders."

Reno exhaled. "I know. I was just hoping to find a better pub. The one that I was in got a little rowdy…" he paused and stared at her. "Weren't you there, too? With the other Turks, I mean."

Leira nodded.

"Cool, that means that you're one of them!" he said excitedly. "Tseng's supposed to be my boss soon."

Leira stripped off her blazer and began to wring it out. She was beginning to start feeling her beer. Her skin was beginning to pale and she was beginning to feel a little warm despite her soggy clothes.

"You're not going to pass out are you?" asked Reno with a look of concern on his face. Sure enough, Leira's head dropped to her shoulder. She was completely out.

When the elevator finally reached the top, Reno got her to her feet and draped one of her arms over his shoulder. He didn't know where the other Turks were staying so he thought it best that he take her back to his dorm room until she recovered. He began to doubt whether he wanted to be part of the Turks this bad or not.

The streets were clear. Tseng and Rude had given up their vigil and had already gone back to their rooms. Reno began to feel odd about dragging one of his possible teammates around especially a female one. He never really had to resort to this kind of action when trying to get a lady.

The dorm building where he was staying was located close to the airstrip. He was glad that she wasn't a Shinra officer wearing the bulky armor that goes along with their trade. He kicked the main door to the building open and gingerly edged her through. He lived on the bottom floor so this too he counted as a blessing.

His room was full of Shinra memorabilia that he had collected over the years. Newspaper clippings and photos taken from his trainee days decorated the walls. He had always wanted to be a Turk and he was thrilled to meet one no matter how unresponsive she was.

The boy laid her out on his bed. He had wanted to put her on his couch to give his back a break but thought it would leave the company a better impression of him if he gave up his own room for her welfare.

Leira began to stir as soon as he set her down. He watched her move as she tried to get comfortable. He had to admit she was quite beautiful. She seemed to be a little older than he was. He began to doubt that the chance would come when she would want to join him on a date.

Reno looked at the wet floor and his soaking clothing and sighed. "This had better get me a good promotion." He whispered.

Hours had passed and Reno was still awake. The Turk hadn't moved and he couldn't get comfortable. He got up and went into the bedroom. He stretched out on the bed next to her, figuring that she would be asleep for a few more hours.

"Get your fucking hands away from me!" the jolt wrenched the boy from his sleep and he whipped his head around to face the woman he had let into his dorm.

Leira raised her right leg high into the air and brought her heel screaming down towards him. Reno gasped and was barely able to roll out of the way. He made it over to the other side of the bed and crossed his hands in front of him. "Whoa, whoa…Hey, time out!"

"You perv!" Leira ripped and jumped over the bed. She landed right next to him and delivered a sidekick to his stomach. Reno flew backwards a couple feet and slammed into the wall. He ignored the searing pain he was feeling and raised his hands in front of him again.

A fist suddenly shot through the air and passed right through Reno's fleshy barricade grabbing the collar of his shirt. She wrenched his body closer to hers and stared into his face. Her cold green eyes seemed to burn with anger.

"Wait, wait. I'm a good guy! I just wanted to help!" he yelped.

"Help with what?!" she spat.

"You passed out! I couldn't just leave you in the elevator!" he stammered.

"Quit whining!"

Leira drew her other hand back to punch him. Reno reached over and tried to pry her hand loose but her grip was too tight. He quickly raised a leg and kicked her in the stomach.

With a sigh of relief, he watched as she fell backwards onto the bed. He quickly ran over to her and pinned her wrists to the bed. Being careful of her legs, he leaned in over her to look in her eyes. "It's okay. I'm not gonna do anything. I'm not a pervert. If anything I'm a new Turk recruit."


	6. A Visit To The Honey Bee Inn

"It itches."

"Get over it, honey bunny." Jody scratched his neck beneath his helmet. "I have to keep this uniform on until you're safely inside."

"If I get over this I'll be naked." Leira began to reach inside her bra to flick at a grain of sand the wind had carried.

"Please…please-don't do that."

She looked at her partner. "It's just dirt-it's aggravating to look at it."

"I'm going to turn around, then, while you wipe it off."

"What?! That's absurd. It's just a tiny-"

"Look, I'm a married man-and I've got kids. I promised my wife, I wouldn't look at another woman while I was on duty."

"I'll do one better." Leira turned around and furiously wiped at her bosom before finally turning back around to face him. "That better?"

Jody swallowed and nodded slightly. He had never cheated on his family before and never wanted to find out what the punishment for that type of crime would be.

"So what am I supposed to do, now?"

"Well, you're job is to find out anything you can about Don Corneo and where all his information is coming from. My job is to watch you and judge you. You're a new Elite. It's my duty to not let Norelliies down. She's counting on you-we all are."

"Great, that's just great." Leira muttered under her breath.

Wallmarket was a center for everything. You could stop at a pub and get sloshed and get a cure for what ails you at the nearest pharmacy. Tourists from all over the world came to visit this place not just to shop. Below the surface of the bustling district beat it's true heart. At the center of everything was a tale of sex, drugs, murder, and mob rule.

Just to the left of the town gates was the Honey Bee Inn where a wealthy gentleman could find company in a young woman for as long as he wanted; provided the money was right.

Leira sighed as she thought about the mystery Turk that had helped her back at the elevator in Junon. He had managed to upset Sephiroth and Reeve in a big way. What was his name? "Was it Reno?"

"What's that?"

"Nothing. I was just thinking about some new Turk named Reno."

Mymians stopped walking and turned around. "You don't want anything to do with him. He's bad news. I heard he runs around with a bunch of Wutties, too."

"Well, geez, Jode. Tseng _is_ from Wutai. You can't help but run with them when you're a Turk."

"Whatever, kid. Tseng's different. Watch your step, when it comes to Reno. That's all I'm saying." He waggled a finger at her and went back to his stride with her in tow. Neither Shinra operative looked at the bustling shoppers. They were both too busy planning out their stay with Don Corneo. Backup plans weren't easy to come by, when perfection was demanded.

The tall heels of Leira's white thigh-high boots drew in a lot of attention as they neared Corneo's villa. She could not figure out how so many of the Don's women could wear them day in and day out.

"The end will come one day!! Be prepared!! It rests on the shoulders of one man in black!! Believe in aliens, they ARE real!!" a man dressed in nothing more than a white toga shouted as the two pressed on.

The Elite in training paused for a second to consider the man's shouts. "A man in black, huh? What was that about aliens?" Leira asked mildly intrigued.

"Can you believe these doom-sayers, nowadays? The end of the world-it'll never happen-at least not the way they think. What do you-?" Jody turned around as he noticed that his comrade had vanished. "Leira, get back here!"

The man in the toga hurriedly looked her up and down. "You're one of them! You're one of the ones that will bring ruin!"

"They say a lot about Shinra. I've heard everything the publics had to say. What's new?"

"I'm not talkin' Shinra, missy!" The man was clearly shaken and fumbled for something tucked away in his garb.

"Thompson, he going for a gun!!" Jody dashed over to her as fast as his tall thin legs could carry him. The clinking of his body armor kept a straight beat as his arms pumped and grabbed for air.

A metal flask appeared and the doomsayer's fingers hurriedly popped the top off. "You're not real. You're not real! You're not real!" he mumbled almost incoherently.

In a flash, Jody was on the scene. He may not have been allowed to carry a weapon on this outing but his hands, feet, and fighting skills were more than enough to protect them both. Since he had been a part of the SOLDIER program before signing on with the Elites something else would ensure his success as well. It didn't matter that he had only made it to Second Class; he still received the chemical inoculations containing Mako.

"Jody, it's okay-it's just booze!!" Her words were ignored as the Elite lashed out with a black-gloved fist. She was helpless as the punch connected and sent the little man backwards into an alleyway.

"I'll be back in a sec." Mymians called to her as he disappeared.

"No, Jode…it's okay." Leira huffed and darted in after him. When she was able to catch up, more punches had been set loose and the sayer was on the ground bleeding from the mouth.

"This'll teach you to mess with a gift to the Don." Mymians barked as he methodically raised his foot for a powerful kick. "You should have thought twice before raising your weapon. Especially since she's a gift from Shinra!"

"Weapon? What weapon?" Leira flew in between them and launched a kick at Jody's throat. She looked over the boot's pointed toe while her fists curled in a defensive posture to guard her side and hips. "He's just a drunk, man!"

"Yeah…yeah! Just a drunk! Just like she said!" The man said as he grabbed his half empty flask from the ground and tried for an escape.

The Elite shook his head and calmed down. He dropped his fists to his side as Leira put her leg down. "Sorry. I was just looking for a fight. I didn't want to sign on for this mission in the first place. It's just too easy."

She smiled and swept at a couple of black strands that had fallen from her wig and regarded him with interest. "Well, if it's that easy…you could always just put these boots on and give me your flats and your uniform and let Shinra pimp your undercover ass."

Jody offered a low chuckle and stepped into his partner. "Don't tell anyone I told you this-if my wife found…" his helmet swept around the blackness of the alleyway. Why had he not noticed the looks of this place? As it was, he remembered very little of how he had come to arrive at his present destination.

"Jody?"

"Huh?" Newspapers blew around in the dankness and old Honey Bee Inn posters hung from the brown slimy bricks.

Leira watched the Elite as he tried to find himself.

"Wha?"

"You were saying?" She pressed.

"Oh…if I were five years younger and not married with children-" he put his right thumb and forefinger to her chin. "I would have had you by now." He turned from her and left the alleyway.

Leira tugged at the bottom of her bra and coughed. She thought back to how very little she knew of this man. In his tone, at that moment, she realized that he was only half joking. An attempt to swallow back uneasiness was made before she ended up lagging after him.

She had never seen her companion's face before, despite the fact that they were in the same unit.

As she exited she viewed a thick wire that seemed to climb up from the ground. It looked as if it were able to stretch all the way up to the top plate where Shinra headquarters Midgar was located.

"Hey, you comin', or what?" she heard Jody call out to her.

"I'm comin'! I'm comin'!"

Jody spoke after she had appeared by his side. "Incidentally, I tell you now that I wouldn't look that great wearing what you are. That's why you're the bait and I'm acting the part of the pimp."

The trainee blushed at his comments as soon as she noticed the silver face of his helmet turn away. Little did she know she had caused him to blush as well.

Jody's arms swayed back and forth as he walked. Leira could tell that he was not a big man as far as sheer girth went. Both his legs and arms had a muscular appearance beneath the body-concealing SOLDIER uniform. As it was, he was taller than her by a few inches. She could tell that just by him standing so close to her.

A large wooden archway lie beyond them, it was much fancier than the simple gateway to the town. Decorated flags and flower trolleys lined the white painted construction. Behind the fencing was an incredible pagoda with exquisitely carved double doors and more flags with red, white and green patterns stenciled into them. Strange shapes made up a couple of the patterns. They seemed to bare a likeness to the writings of the Wutai country.

"We're to Corneo's gate now. You remember the spiel…correct?"

"I got it." She answered hastily. "You're going to come back after I'm in-right?"

Jody noticed a man walk out from the Don's villa and glanced behind just in time to see another man tailing them. He continued with his briefing but switched the language he was using. "They're acting on us now," he said in the Wutai tongue, alerting Leira to Corneo's henchmen.

She coughed at him. The word "hypocrite" came to mind when it came to people that hated the citizens of Wutai but would still use their language. It wasn't her companion's fault; almost all of the Shinra army was the same way. "You're going to ditch the SOLDIER togs and hang out at the inn. Why is everyone so sure that Corneo won't want to keep me as one of his brides?"

"It would be great if he did-then we could get a better handling on who is giving him all his info. Your use of the Wuttie language is rather good, by the by."

"Thanks…"

"Anyway, my guest pass is good for a week. The higher ups and Norry are confident that Corneo will pick one of the other two wenches and put you in with the rest of the whores who were rejected-he loves the servitude thing. He won't marry ya but he'll let the others get a go."

Leira tugged at the silk mint colored top she donned to hide her undergarments.

"Since you're a present from Shinra, you'll be handling Corneo's personal lackeys as well any Shinra men that visit." The officer stopped his lecture as he noticed the men draw nearer. "Sorry about this!" He grabbed her shoulders and pulled her against the length of his body.

"What are you apologizing…FOR?!" she shrieked her final words as she felt a hand travel up her hips and into her cleavage.

"Hey! Hey, Yuse!! Watch da muichandize!!" one of the pursuers bellowed.

Mymians put his head against hers and whispered in her ear. "Again, I'm sorry. The paper's got my room number…Wutties don't have words for basic letters and numbers." he grunted. He focused his attention back to the men. "Sorry. It was windy back where we came from and she got dirt stuck down between her…uh-tits…" The last word she could tell was forced to ensure believability.

"Yeah. Good man. Wouldn't want da Don ta gets doity." said the man behind them.

"'Doity?'" Leira poked and was promptly elbowed by her superior.

"Uh-uh…watch it here," he warned.

"Gotta keep dem dames in line, I always say. Well, come on. Da boss is a waitin'."

The Turk Elite was just about to follow Leira but was grabbed by the man behind him. "Hey, from dis point on it's just da dames, da rest of duh fellas, and da Don."

"I got it." Jody nodded.

"Yuse can always check out the club on duh uddah side of town."

"Nah, that's fine. I've got to get back to work. Take care of the President's gift." He turned back the way he came and left through the gateway.

When everyone was out of sight, he ran through the rest of the town and ducked into the nearest pub.

In his line of sight he could see several other Shinra officers eating and carrying on conversations. On the off chance he was tailed he would blend right in with the others. "Norry." he said half to himself. "She thought of everything."

He walked up to the counter and leaned in over the top. "Say," he spoke as he grabbed a bartender by the arm and reeled him in. "Where's the men's room here, friend."

"Can't you see? It's down in back to the left of the big screen." Came the bartender's snide reply.

"Thanks, buddy." Jody patted the man on the shoulder and went for the restroom.

It was indeed located next to a big television monitor. An old movie was playing on it that seemed to be made in Wutai. Six men with long hair and white and orange robes were flying through the air and fighting huge green monsters. "Only in Wutai." he murmured and turned the handle to the bathroom door.

"There's someone in here." came a voice from inside.

He rolled his eyes in annoyance and folded his arms as he leaned against the wall beside the door. Leira should be meeting the Don about now. His timing had to be perfect. To the best of his recollection Don Corneo would only spend a couple minutes to decide who his wife would be for that evening.

As a family man, Jody was never able to understand how one man could make a shamble of something as sacred as marriage; children or no.

As soon as the door to the restroom opened, Mymians made sure he was in before anyone else could capitalize on it. Once inside he locked the door behind him and removed his helmet. He undid the safety to it and looked at his image in the wall mirror.

His shoulder length sandy brown hair was tied back in a small ponytail to prevent it from getting caught in the neckline of his bulky SOLDIER uniform. He wished he could do the same with his dog tags. The chrome chain was scratchy at best since he was allergic to certain varieties of metal. As he pulled off his gloves, he rubbed at the sides of his face when his hands were free. It was a habit for him to do that even after her was told the variety of Mako he was injected with would not allow for facial hair growth.

"No five o'clock shadow." he mused and began to unzip the top layer of his body armor. The outer portion was always the heaviest and mainly used as protection instead of storage. It could stop anything from nine millimeter to forty-five caliber shells. Smaller assault rifle rounds could be stopped from a point blank attack.

Once the top was removed he pulled the sleeveless SOLDIER turtleneck over his head. "Dammit!" he hacked as the tags got caught up in the neck of his shirt and threatened to choke him. After he worked himself free he noticed something gold flashing in the mirror image across from him. His locket also hung around his neck.

Mymians smiled as he opened it and gazed at the small color picture it contained. A beautiful woman smiled back at him. Her short hair was a quiet strawberry blonde and her skin was almost snow white in tone. Six children stood behind her in a half circle. Two girls and four boys, ranging from ages four to ten, gazed back at him.

The Elite remembered the struggle his wife put forth in order to birth all three sets of twins. The Shinra doctors had told him that the Mako in his bloodstream was unpredictable when it came to sexual relations and reproduction. He couldn't help but laugh when he thought back to the weeks that passed for each pregnancy. Cheris, his wife, would always blame him for her predicament. Even the labor pains she endured were humorous to witness…from afar. The cursing, punching and grabbing-even the threats of bodily harm she made would-

"Hey, bud, ya done yet?! Some people's gotta piss here."

Jody's blue eyes snapped up toward the door as the person on the other side began to bang and shout obscenities. The man's tone reminded him of the men back at Corneo's mini-palace. Could they have truly sorted him out from the rest of the Shinra in the next room?

"…no…impossible." he whispered and ran some water to rinse off the sweat that had formed on his handsome face.

Quickly, he shut off the water and removed his Shinra issue boots than shucked down the bulky navy blue pants of his uniform.

A couple more bangs sounded so Jody decided to dress a little faster. He reached inside the top part of his armor and pulled out his new wardrobe. He lifted out a wheat colored tank top and put it on followed by a pair of tight fitting denim jeans.

The man on the other side of the door had recruited some help as the disturbance intensified.

"Good Christ." the Elite cursed and shook his head.

He tugged at his tight fitting clothes than withdrew a simple pair of black sandals and put them on his feet.

"Come on, dare's more waitin' out here!!"

Jody looked in the direction of the door once more and smiled. He had a lovely escape plan all worked out. As fast as he could he removed his locket and dog tags and stuffed them in one of his pant's pockets. The plan he had concocted would ensure his leave as well as take care of the question of what to do with his discarded SOLDIER uniform. Since he was no longer a SOLDIER Second Class he had no need of it. No one from the Wallmarket district would recognize it either since this was the first mission that required him to wear any type of uniform. In fact, the only item that he adorned, that resembled anything Shinra, was the bracelet containing his materia.

"I'm coming. For Shinra's sake, I wouldn't want you to wet yourself!!" Jody shouted to the gathering outside. Calmly, he made one last withdrawal from his armor and took out a pack of cigarettes and a pair of dark tinted shades.

He turned the doorknob slowly and set the glasses over his eyes while he whispered a spell that would activate his fire materia. The incantation was a little jumbled due to the fact that even Jody himself had to laugh about what was going to take place. The correct god would still be able to identify his request so he was far from worried about whether his plan would be effective or not.

All it took was a slight crack to trigger the attention of the men and women outside. This was the deciding moment for him. He would finally be able to determine if one of Corneo's men had indeed tailed him to the bar.

A frenzied hand wrenched the door out of his grasp while another tugged at his arm.

"Easy, fellas. It's vacant now and it doesn't have that septic like odor the slums have." he set back to reciting his summons just as someone brushed passed him in an attempt to enter the vacant bathroom.

"EYAHHHH!! COME TO ME, NOW!!!" Jody shouted as the prayer ended and bent his right elbow so his clenched fist was before his face.

A huge fireball erupted inside the tiny room and engulfed his abandoned uniform as it grew. Flames climbed up the walls and the bar patrons ran outside like frightened dogs with their tails tucked between their legs; only Jody walked out disinterested and collected, with hands in his pockets and a lit cigarette between his lips.

A couple Shinra agents pushed through the distressed crowd and began to recite ice and water prayers; anything they could think of to stop the flame from spreading.

When he was sure that no one was paying attention to him, Jody put up two fingers in a "V" formation and stuck out his tongue.

His next destination was his room at the Honey Bee Inn. In his mind he did his best to think of a way to plead for the forgiveness of his wife and children. As faithful and devoted as he was; he could hardly be able to tell about what horrors lay beyond the large green double doors and circus type advertisements that plastered the outer walls. What would happen if he were to give in to it's temptations? He would be there for a full week.

His familial future looked bleaker as he recalled the words that he spoke to Reeve's gorgeous niece upon their arrival at the Don's mansion. It was hard for him to suppress certain thoughts; especially with her dressed the way she was…so much exposed skin, so little clothing. Parts of his body began to warm just thinking about her attire or lack thereof.


	7. A Visit To The Honey Bee Inn Part Two

Leira had a hard time believing that she was in this predicament. She had an even harder time believing that her uncle would allow her to be in this place. Even the gentlemen behind her were sleaze peddlers.

"Yo, Scotch! Dis be dat Shinra ho, da Don's wantin'."

"You guys have never heard of grammar have you?" Leira interjected with a little venom.

The other man smiled and rubbed his head. "Grammar? Never touched duh stuff."

She rolled her eyes as the two men left her in the company of another.

"You can't make jokes about them to their face…they won't understand. They can barely count the fingers on their hands let alone talk about proper sentence formation." This new person was dressed in a dark blue shirt and black pants. Had it not been for the slight blonde Mohawk on his dark skinned head, she would have sworn he was another Elite.

"So, I see you have at least half a wit, huh?"

"Wow, miss. For a dame-and especially a gift to represent well being-you have quite a forked tongue." Scotch eyed her speculatively.

Leira shut up when she remembered that she was there on a mission. If she were to fail by blowing her cover, Shinra would still thrive but more secrets would be lost and there was a good chance Jody would be found out and executed either by other Shinra or by Corneo's men.

Scotch moved in closer to her and sniffed the air around her. "You've got a nice sweet scent to you. The Don'll like that. You've got a lot of skin showin' too." He looked down between her breasts and than back into her eyes.

She crossed her fingers when she remembered that Jody had pushed a paper containing his room number down there. Hopefully, it was deep enough down so it wouldn't be easily seen by the naked eye.

"I think you might be a little small for Don Corneo, though. He likes the big breasted chicks." Scotch continued with his features checklist. "I think your hairs a bit too dark, too."

Another man appeared and stood beside Scotch. This man was dressed very differently from the others. He was decorated in a flashy white jacket with matching pant and a hot pink dress shirt and shiny white shoes. Something about him reminded her of Palmer, the head of the Shinra Space Administration. It wasn't hard for her to understand the connection. Both men were rather wide as well as short. Corneo shared the same pink skin color but had more hair than the man from Shinra. A swooping sundae swirl of short blonde hair that set him apart from Palmer.

Scotch bowed to his master and turned a hand on Leira. "This is the present from President Shinra."

Corneo clapped his hands together and danced around gleefully. "Great! She's great!"

Scotch waved to a man sitting underneath a large winding staircase. "Go get the other girls, the Don is ready."

Leira took note of how the other was dressed. He wore a suit all in brown and had his short brown hair slicked back. A long red silk tie hung from his neck with a gold pin close to the bottom; Leira figured that it must have been made of an expensive metal. The man disappeared through a doorway beneath the stairs without a word.

"Well, my pretty, we'll just move you along to my reception room!" squealed Corneo. He grabbed Leira by the arm and led her up the winding stairs. "The other chickies will be along soon!"

The poor woman tried so hard to keep from yanking her arm away from him and planting a fist in his face. Finally, she swallowed her pride and gave in to the facts. Her uncle, even if he did not know what she was doing, was still depending on her. The added bonus that Jody had relayed to her about Norelliies wishing for her success didn't help either.

Each step up the stairs caused a strange odor to waft from Corneo's clothing. It made Leira's nose crinkle her nostrils twitch. She looked around to try to tell herself that it wasn't Corneo but with each wave of his arms, she was reminded of its origin.

"I gotta tell you, the chili bowl from Sector Seven is the greatest. All that lovely garlic!"

The Elite in training did her best to cover her nose and keep the Don's rank breath at bay. "Yeah…must be great stuff…" she wheezed.

Corneo dropped her arm to open a door at the top of the stairs. As soon as he was able to enter, he seemed to have lost interest in her.

From where she stood, she was treated to a lovely look at the lobby of the Don's private residence.

More decorated flags hung from the high vaulted ceiling. Some tapestries were so long they hung just inches from the top of her head. A couple corners of the large room had carved wooden figures that looked like they were straight out of Wutai. Golden dragons stood on their tails near every exit.

Leira glanced down beneath her feet and watched the man that had disappeared beneath the stairs reappear. On either side of him was a young woman. One was dressed in a short blue dress while the other girl wore red. That must have been her competition. She wondered if Jody had found his room, as she entered the Don's office.

Jody pushed his hair back with hands. He had arrived at the Honey Bee Inn without incident. The bright white lights attracted his attention in an instant. After looking into them for so long, he was able to notice strange shapes in them. They looked like naked dolls; so different from what his four years old daughters played with. Why does that idea seem so wrong, he thought to himself.

"'Scuse me, cuz."

The Elite blinked and perceived a man in a brown suit standing in front of him.

"If the lights are what you're wantin' you're gonna be standin' out here for a long time. What you truly seek, my good man is something that will get your heart racing as well as the rest of your body-if'n ya get my drift."

All Jody could do was nod and put a hand in his pocket to clench the golden vessel that carried the picture of his wife and children. "I…uh-have a pass…a week's pass." He fumbled through his other pocket and found the pink laminated card that would aid him in his mission.

The door attendant took it and read every little worded line. Jody guessed he might have been looking for an expiration date or fine print like a contract would contain.

"It sez yer good."

After finishing his scrutinizing-the man gave Jody back his pass and clapped his hands.

From out of nowhere, a woman in a bumblebee costume appeared and grabbed Jody's wrists.

She pulled him through a large hallway painted all in yellow with red wooden doors painted red. They were traveling so fast that the surroundings reminded Jody of time lapsed cloud formations; everything was blasting by so rapidly. All the while, the girl was smiling and mumbling something under her breath; Jody had no idea what was going on. "Could you please enunciate and OH-slow down?!"

The girl stopped in her tracks so fast Jody was ill prepared to stop. He collided with her and they both slammed against a door.

Jody had shut his eyes during the impact and reflexively sent his hands out into the air to catch his body and prevent it from harm. Upon opening them, he was immediately greeted by a quick glimpse of a hand and a nasty stinging sensation in his left cheek as the attendant slapped him. It was at this time he noticed where his hands had landed; square on her breasts.

"I am not an object to be toyed with!" The young woman shouted, "We have other girls to take care of that sort of need!"

Jody stood in the hallway confused as hell as to what the woman was throwing a fit over.

In less than a second the bumblebee girl ripped a key out of a hidden pouch inside her yellow and black bustier, stuffed it into the key hole in the door, wrenched the doorknob around and yanked open the door. She stuck her tongue out at Jody and delivered a sharp kick to his groin before finally running away in tears.

Jody clutched himself and slid down the wall to his knees. His breathing had increased and his face was beet red as he tried to get over the intense pain.

Totally humiliated, he crawled into his room and shut the door. "Frigging bitch," he huffed and pulled himself up to nearby bed.

"C'mon, Jode, pull it together and get your bearings," he whispered as the pain subsided and he was able to get his bearings.

The bed he was sitting on was round and reminded him of his wedding cake. It was tall with a poofy purple comforter. The throw pillows that adorned the bed looked like cobble stones but were much softer.

Over his left shoulder, Jody spotted a gilded heart shaped mirror with matching vanity. Red curtains hung from windowless walls while golden cherubs zigzagged a ribbon path down to the ground.

"Good grief, this is all like some bad porno movie," he mumbled as he got to his feet and walked over to a strange pink curtain in the far right corner of the room.

Jody yanked the curtain open with his left hand and found himself half disgusted. A round heart shaped bathtub with feet greeted his eyes. This has got to be the epitome of tacky he thought to himself as he scratched his head.

Jody shook his head and lay down on the bed. For the time being there would be nothing for him to do but wait for Leira.

"Might as well catch a shower." he barked and threw a pillow at the shower curtain. "Cheris, forgive me."


	8. Birthday Greetings To The Vice President

Reeve handed her a bag with something black in it. "What's this?" she asked curiously.

"This is something for you to wear at the Vice President's party." He said smoothly. "Go ahead and take it out."

Leira removed the contents of the bag. A long black pair of gloves and a long black dress was contained in it. The black dress wasn't very revealing. It had a mandarin collar and reached the ground.

"Unc. I really don't want to wear a dress. I don't even want to go." She said flatly.

"But it's a nice dress." Reeve said in protest.

Scarlet was still leaning against the wall while all this was going on. She had rolled her eyes as she watched the dress being unveiled. She casually stepped forward. "Reeve, it's a lovely dress…it is. I just think she might need some private time to try it on."

He nodded in agreement. "You know that there are only a couple more hours left, right, Scarlet?"

The blonde haired Shinra executive nodded at him. She put her hands on his shoulders and pushed him out. "Yes, yes, I know. It's girl time. I'll make sure she looks pretty for the Vice President's sixteenth birthday.

Reeve was outside the door and had just turned to look back when the heavy door had slammed in his face. "Why do I suddenly feel like I've made a bad decision?" he asked himself.

Scarlet shook her head and held the dress up in front of her. "He's a nice man but this will not do."

Leira had always enjoyed her time with Scarlet. The head of the Shinra Weapons Department was always big on style and fashion. She had supplied Leira with the majority of her uniforms and was always around to answer questions about what was "in" in the fashion and weapons world. "This will not do!" she spat. Scarlet reached over and picked up Leira's knife. She began to slash the sleeves apart and cut open the sides. "We're going to make a good impression. Go get some string, dear."

Leira did as she was told. She went over to a small cabinet and removed some black string. She handed it over to Scarlet and watched, as her aunt became a possessed woman. She pulled a needle out of her hair and ran the thread through it. It was a long undertaking but the dress was finally made to show off some of Leira's other qualities.

Scarlet put her hands behind her head and laughed. "Now, go ahead and try it on."

Leira dropped her military gear and put the dress on. Scarlet clapped her hands at the sight before her. "That's wonderful! Now we've got to do something about your hair!"

Hours had passed and everyone gathered at the ballroom. Scarlet proudly strode up to the President. The large man put his hand on his son's shoulder.

"This is the head of the Weapon's department Miss Scarlet."

The young man gave her a short glance and picked up his wine glass. He looked away after a couple seconds and stared at the table.

"President Shinra, sir, our newest Turk will be arriving shortly." Scarlet said with a hint of surprise at the Vice President's rudeness.

As if on queue, Leira opened up the large double doors. "There she is!"

The newest Turk wore the long modified dress. The sides of it were cut high and over her hips while under her arms was bare skin. Her hair was left long but was tied in tight cornrows. The dress was almost unrecognizable to her uncle. Reeve had watched her walk in and slapped a hand over his face. He could almost feel a heart attack coming on but he dared not approach her while Scarlet was in the area.

All eyes were turned to Leira. With the exception of the music, all banter amongst the employees of Shinra was silenced. She was becoming worried about all the looks she was receiving. She decided to make the most of it and approach her "aunt". While she walked through the crowd of eyes, she noticed her new boss, Tseng. He stood there and gave her a slight nod. She wasn't too familiar with him. Her former boss, Rude was also there. He seemed to pay no attention to her.

A little further down was Reno. He winked at her and gave her a large smile. "Looking good." He yelled breaking the silence.

Just than she felt, someone brush against her. She looked over her shoulder and noticed her former general standing beside her. She looked him up and down. Leira noticed his shiny boots and the darkness of his formal uniform. "Hello, sir."

"Sir," he smiled, "I think it's more around Sephiroth now. You're not in my unit anymore."

"I'm sorry, sir." She whispered.

Sephiroth paid no attention to her. He lifted her hands with his.

The new Turk had always had a deep-rooted attraction to him, who wouldn't she thought to herself.

"I can see it. You are forgetting more each day." He shook his head. Leira was lost by that comment.

"What?" she asked.

"It's nothing."

"You're damn right?" Came Reno's voice. Lieandra was suddenly grabbed from the side and pulled away from her former general.

"Reno, what has gotten into to you?" she snarled.

"That's my woman, pops!" He shouted as he leveled a finger at the man.

"Pops?!" Spat Sephiroth.

"You're woman?" commented Leira.

"Now just one minute…" The two men yelled in unison.

The Turk decided to let them settle their differences while she moved on. As she moved through the crowd once more, she thought a glass of champagne would be nice.

"Excuse me, aren't you the new Turk?" This voice was rather laid back.

She looked at the owner of the voice. He couldn't have been in his twenties, Leira thought. The boy was dressed in white pants and a black turtleneck. This person's hair was an odd mix of red and orange and his eyes were so green they stood out from the rest of his features.

"Aren't you a little young to be drinking?" she countered.

The young man smiled and looked down at his feet. "It would appear so but most people let me do what I like."

"Really?" asked Leira. "Honestly, I don't care what you do, drink if you like, I'm going too." She picked up a glass and started to drink.

The young man seemed to be surprised at her. His confusion didn't change her attitude she just looked back at all the dancing people and Reno and Sephiroth arguing with each other.

"Do you have a problem?"

The red head was shocked. "Do you know who I am?" he asked.

"No. Does it matter?"

He was completely taken aback. "I'm the President's son…Rufus."

That worked. Leira covered her mouth and took a step back. "I apologize, sir."

"No, no. That's fine. I really don't care if anyone knows who I am or not. I was just a little surprised by you, that's all."


	9. Nibelheim Bound

"Sir, we just received this letter from the higher ups."

Sephiroth regarded the origin of the letter with quiet disdain as he slowly reached out to accept it. "So, which one is it from this time?"

"It's from Reeve," came the flat reply. "Supposedly the slum super is acting under direct orders from the president himself."

Why was the Shinra general not surprised? He picked up a letter opener and parted the back flap of the manila envelope. His cat like eyes followed each worded line in each paragraph, after the document was removed.

"Sir?" his most trusted comrade in SOLDIER shared the same concern.

The white haired man's hands dropped the slip of government paper. His eyes were narrowed to slits and his mouth seemed small and blank. "Well, old man, this is how you want to play."

Without warning, Sephiroth covered his face with his left hand and let out a tremendous guffaw.

SOLDIER First Class Zack took a couple steps back. "I guess that's not a letter of recommendation, or anything, is it?"

Sephiroth frowned at the man when his laugh had concluded. "No, it's not!" he said harshly and pushed himself to his feet.

"General? What'd it say?"

The angered Shinra warrior wrenched the document off the desktop and slung it at his friend, before he stormed off.

Zack fumbled with his hands as he did his best to capture the fluttering letter. His fists collided around the paper. He was done playing.

Angered bellows erupted from the hallway outside the office. Cries of, "No pushing", "Man someone's having a male patterned PMS attack," and "OW, MY ARM!!" served as a loose indicator to Sephiroth's rage.

The paper bounced off Zack's knuckles and landed on the table, after one last flutter. "He won't mind." the SOLDIER said and sat down in Sephiroth's chair. He put his hands to the sides of his face and started to read.

Don't think that I'm not on to your tricks. It's taken me years and countless amounts of Gil to keep her memories in check. I'm not going to have a test-tube screwball like you fucking up what I've fought hard to accomplish!! The people that you wanted to accept as your parents (in case you've forgotten my sister and brother-in-law) have moved on and died. I warned you more than once about following my niece! You have nothing to do with her and neither does that quack Hojo. She's been reassigned and so have you!! You and four others have won yourselves a nice long trip to Nowhere-Ville! In case you haven't guessed already, you're going to Nibelheim, my boy. There have been unconfirmed reports of monsters in the area. The locals think it has something to do with the reactor malfunction; I myself could care less about what's going on over there. The president thinks I want you to go for your skills, what an oaf of a man! You can take whatever action you choose I could care less! You will remain there until Leira's transfer has taken affect. Might I also add you won't be able to manhandle any more information from my associates. Don't think for one minute that your little stunt with Tseng didn't go unnoticed! Have fun battling monsters!

Reeve (Head of Shinra Public Relations)

Moreover, another thing, maybe you have already met Leira's new boyfriend. His name is Reno. She has told me many things about him. If he weren't a bottom-feeding crony for Heidegger, I'd almost be happy for her. He's on his way to be being reassigned, too. Therefore, you won't have to worry about venting on him! I remember you and him duking it out at the Vice President's sixteenth birthday!

"Wow! That's harsh!" Zack hopped to his feet and dashed after his general. The flat black heels of his combat boots clacked against the cream-colored tiled floors. The silver plates of armor that were attached to his uniform clinked like gil as he ran. The uniform was heavy but solidified his rank as a First Class operative; he couldn't complain. For many years, he had known of his new commanding officer's temper. His former general was almost a female wringer in terms of attitude, only prettier.

"Hey, Mister Gongaga! Where do you think you're goin'?!" Only one person would call him by the name of the town he was from. He couldn't help it if he was one of the only officers from there.

"Speak of the devil." Zack slid to a halt. "Norelliies! You didn't happen to see General Sephiroth pass through here did you?" He passed a hand through his spiky black hair, hoping that his words wouldn't alarm her.

"No. Why?" She just smiled at him and folded her arms. Her golden locks weren't in their usual golden braid. Her hair was long and shiny. Zack was willing to bet that her hair was as wavy as the ocean in a gentle breeze. Just by studying her mane, one could tell it was soft to the touch…so was she. Her light complexion and dancer's body became a symphony in motion when she walked…or sighed for that matter. Being a whole head shorter than he was didn't detract any from her full list of attributes.

Zack put a finger to the corner of his mouth. He hoped that she wouldn't notice he was checking for drool. His finger slipped and he ended up poking himself in the nose. Suddenly, he realized, even if he was drooling he wouldn't have been able to feel the dampness. He was wearing the thick black gloves that went with his uniform. Pull it together Zack, she's still Sephiroth's girl. Something, however, was different about her.

"NORELLIIES!!" he suddenly realized that she was in Midgar with him.

He didn't need to explain his sudden outburst. "That's right!" she blushed. "I wanted to keep it a secret…but the guard hound's out of the bag, I guess. I've actually been here for six hours, now. Our new base of operations has been completed!!" her deep blue eyes beamed with confidence.

"So that would mean it's you, Sephiroth, and Reeve's niece…all here in Midgar." Zack had heard one of his former comrade's talk about how she thought Sephiroth was just using Norelliies so he could be closer to that Leira girl.

"Why, yes it does!!" her smile was so warm and proud. "I was hoping to surprise you know who."

Zack backed up and lowered his chin. Maybe Ecka was right. Maybe it wasn't one of her silly conspiracy theories after all. He wondered what Ecka would have tried to do to Sephiroth if she had read the letter before him.

The Turk Elite head stared at Zack's face for the longest time. "You suddenly look kind of hurt…"

He quickly smiled and slapped the back of his head.

"Is something the matter?"

"Uhhhh…" make it quick Zack explain yourself. He needed to catch up with Sephiroth. He could almost feel a vein about to rupture beneath the skin of his forehead.

"You're not still broken up over Ecka being discharged are you?"

Wha-hah! Success, he chided to himself. "YES!! I…uh…mean…yeah. She was a good fighter, a little nosey and all, but she was a decent kid and a good partner." He put the spotlight back on his former general, as he figured out a way to shorten their awkward meeting. "You haven't heard from her either have you?"

Norelliies Neidlictzech shrugged her shoulders. "Can't say that I have. She took the discharge rather hard. I felt so bad for her. If her arm hadn't been shattered she would still be here with the rest of us."

Zack dashed about with his eyes. Something was emerging from the hallway behind Norelliies.

A beaten secretary limped into view. His brow was scratched and a bruise was growing underneath a swollen eye. The young SOLDIER could only guess that Sephiroth had traveled in that direction.

"Uh, yeah, it's a shame…look, Norry, if you hear from her, you be sure and let me know, 'kay?!" Without waiting for her to reply, he brushed passed her and continued his run.

"Uhm, okay…I will." the blonde haired woman was confused.

A door slammed shut and an angered yell could be heard from inside a nearby office. "Found him." Zack muttered.

Slowly he wrapped his fingers around the platinum doorknob. He caught the passing reflection of his own Mako enhanced eyes in the square mottled glass of the office door.

Reeve was cross-legged as he sat behind his desk. His elbows rested on the table and the tips of his fingers tapped against each other in a slow soundless rhythm.

"Couldn't you be more original?! Nibelheim! How creative, Reeve!" Sephiroth on the other hand did little to hide his ferocity. "What did you do? Spin the frigging globe with your eyes shut or something? I do congratulate you, though. You really have found a place that could truly be referred to as 'the middle of nowhere'. Would you like a cookie?"

The man at the desk stroked his goatee diligently. His dark eyes were searching his desktop. He seemed to be blatantly ignoring the soul before him.

Zack shut the door behind him.

"Perfect timing, SOLDIER. This weasel was just about to brief us on our sudden relocation." the white haired general never turned his icy glare from Reeve.

"Relocation? Where we goin'?" Zack could almost guess.

"Your general and you will be accompanied by two foot soldiers. Gentleman, you will be visiting Nibelheim for the next few months. Enjoy your tour!" Reeve broke from his study of his desk's wood grain and glared at both men with contempt. "You have been reduced to monster hunters. Now get out my sight!!"

Sephiroth put a finger to his lips and pondered his next course of action. He wanted to lash back at Reeve so bad.

Zack blinked as everything began to soak in. "Dammit I just got a girl, too."

"My heart bleeds for you…now get out!" Reeve barked and pointed at the door.

The two SOLDIERs turned and walked out.

"What did I do to deserve this?" Zack moaned as he leaned against the cold white concrete wall outside Reeve's office.

"You?" Sephiroth rubbed his brow. "You of all people should know how this organization works. You made it to SOLDIER. Did you not?"

"…But Nibelheim?" the black haired man remembered the young girl that he had met half a year ago. "We were gonna go places!"

Sephiroth looked up from his rubbing. "We?"

"Doh!" Zack had almost forgotten that he had kept his recent relationship secret. The girl had told him that she once dated a member of the Turks. "Well, y'see, her name's Aeris…she's a sweet girl…"

"I've heard of her," the general said deliberately.

"Uhmmm." Zack was finding himself feeling rather uncomfortable. "Speaking of girl…uh, you didn't know Norelliies was here…I'll bet you didn't…sir."

Sephiroth straightened. "Miss Neidlictzech is here?" His voice had a ring of hope to it. "I guess there IS something that might help to cheer me up a little."

"Huh? I guess Ecka was wrong about the two of you."

"Wrong about what?" Sephiroth was genuinely perplexed.

Zack swallowed a little. "Well, one night Ecka took me aside while you and general Norry went out. She said that you were just using her…"

Sephiroth's confusion turned to shock instantly. "That little sixteen year old girl told you all that?"

"I know. That's crazy talk isn't it?"

Sephiroth straightened up and smiled. He put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Thanks, Zack. I feel better. I'll go pay Norelliies a visit."

"Hey, no prob, man." he laid a hand on the back of Sephiroth's black coat.

The tall general started to walk away from him.

"Glad to know you really do care about everybody's favorite Elite." Zack breathed almost to himself. He really did not plan to have anyone hear him speak those words.

Someone else had let out a comment of their own unintentionally. "Who would have thought that a tomboyish girl like Ecka could be that observant? I guess I'll have to try harder next time…at least I fooled Miss Neidlictzech, anyway." Sephiroth left Zack behind. There was nothing else he could think of more important than meeting up with the blonde haired woman. All he had to do was find her.

Several seconds later two men's voices became audible.

Sephiroth stopped in his tracks. He instantly recognized one of the men's tones. Both of them were drawing closer. Stepping around a corner, he put himself in their path. "Jody, a word with you?"

The bewildered male Elite looked at his friend than at the general. "…Okay…"

The other man smiled. He had other things to do. "Okay, Jode, catch you later!"

Mister Jody Mymians stood a few inches taller than Sephiroth. Despite their height difference, it made him nervous to stand face to face with a celebrity.

"So, the Elites are in Midgar now."

"Yes, sir." Jody nodded. He tugged at the skirting of his formal uniform.

"You wouldn't happen to know where Norelliies is…would you?"

"She's in the B-block dormitories. Permanent residences haven't been set up for us yet…so we're in temporaries. Reeve's been fighting our move tooth and nail lately and Norry's not happy." The brown haired man noticed that he was saying more than he wanted to.

"Thank you." Sephiroth bowed his head and sauntered off. The B-block dormitories were only two more hallways from his current position.

A plaque hung on the wall before the entryway to the dorms. He ran a gloved finger down the list of names until he came to the correct name and room number. After finding out where she was located, he walked down the hallway that housed the members of the Turk Elite. They were indeed all housed there. For a moment, the general had considered paying his real love interest a visit. He forced a sigh from his lips. That was all Reeve would need to speed his plans up. It was best not to tempt that particular fate.

This section was a part of Shinra Tower Midgar that actually did have the feel of one city block. Doors were lined up across from each other. It almost felt like a cul-de-sac.

He came to a door with a familiar number.

Sephiroth tugged at the collar of his long black coat and swept at his hair before deciding to knock. The correct words were not coming to him easily. He knew what he had to do. He had even less use for this woman than he did when he first met her.

"General Sephiroth, sir! What brings you here?!"

Sephiroth turned from the door and gave his best smile. "Norry, I heard the news and couldn't resist paying you a visit." His smile vanished as he noticed that she had someone with her.


	10. Insanity's Wake

The news of the fire echoed through all the Shinra territories. No one had slept in hours.

SOLDIERs, Elites, and storm troopers waited in their common rooms. The munitions caretakers hurriedly loaded and catalogued each weapon and artillery casing in their vast inventory. It was only a matter of time before the empty halls would fill with clomping hordes of soldiers bent on killing every villager in Nibelheim.

Reeve's hand shook as he tried to take another sip from his coffee cup.

The Head of the Weapons Development Team, Scarlet, shifted her frigid gaze from person to person. She had been sitting at the table so long her styling gel was beginning to lose its strength. After all the tears she shed for the loss of her bonus money, her makeup smeared.

President Shinra tapped his fingers nervously against the metal arms of his chair. The steaming cup of coffee he had been given began to fog up the dark colored lenses of his glasses.

A very scared Shinra operative, Private Cloud Strife of Nibelheim, had sent in the brief distress call. He indicated that Sephiroth had been the one to set fire to the sleepy village and fled while another man, the acting SOLDIER First Class Zack, was on his way to intercept him. Cloud, acting of his own volition, informed his Midgar superiors that he was on his way to catch up with the two men.

Heidegger shook his bearded head. "This is what happens when you put science and technology together!" he poked at Scarlet.

The blonde haired woman hopped to her feet and slammed her fists down on the cherry wood conference table. "Science IS technology, you oaf! Without science there couldn't be any!"

"Not this again…" Hojo, the head of Shinra's Science Department murmured bitterly and fingered the top of his mug gingerly.

"Y'know what!" squawked the Space Administration head. The fat man leaned across the rectangular table and pushed his arms out ahead of him. "We could always use the money that these idiots lost and put it into our quest to search the stars!"

Reeve's coffee cup rocked some more. That was the last place he wanted that money to go. The cup tilted and dropped some of its contents mere millimeters from his groin area. "GODDAMMIT!"

"Does mister PR have anything to say?!" Scarlet butted in.

Reeve studied her face for a scant second. "Is that a cold sore, my dear Scarlet? Anyway, Mr. President, I had the feeling messing with that alien thing was a bad idea. Do you have any idea how many SOLDIERs we have injected that…thing…into?"

President Shinra tweaked his mustache while Hojo's coffee went into his windpipe. "Go on." the President pushed as Hojo coughed.

"Like Private Strife said, Sephiroth became unstable after he found himself unable to cope with the 'Jenova' content running through his bloodstream."

Hojo beat his chest with his fist and continued to hack. "He wasn't…aaarrrrgghhhmmm…injected with it like they were…haacckkkhhem…"

"What's your point, Reeve?" The president sat back in his seat and crossed his legs.

"My point is this, sir," he stood and pointed at the silent radio in the center of the table. "What if all these people go insane just like he did? Then what will we do? The people that have to deal with Shinra…customers and potential customers alike…will learn of this and we'll lose business…especially when they hear that we are sending 'death squads' out to kill every last living thing!"

"Who's going to tell them?" asked Heidegger.

"That's why we're sending out your 'death'…'squads' in the first place." beamed Scarlet. No one will be the wiser." She leaned forward and shot Reeve a middle finger while puckering her lips and making kissing sounds.

Something began to eat at the head of public relations. Would his niece go insane? She couldn't, he tried to reassure himself. For all she knew, she was just a regular soldier. How could Hojo's Jenova concoction possibly fight its way through? He paid top dollar to have it suppressed. He would just have to step up her transfer. He set his mug down and glared at Hojo. "You people are monsters."

Hojo, on the other hand, was instantly bothered. "Just what are you getting at? Why are you looking at me that way?"

Heidegger lifted a chubby green-sleeved arm high into the air and raised two fingers.

The two SOLDIERs, stationed at the entrance to the conference room, edged toward the table after seeing his signal. They took positions behind Reeve and Hojo.

The SOLDIER Second Class turned Turk Elite, Jody Mymians, glared at the back of Reeve's head. He liked this man. If Heidegger gave the signal to shoot, both Reeve and Hojo's argument would come to a messy end. The President never did like childish squabbling…that was probably why he had his own son sent away in the first place. He and the SOLDIER behind Hojo peered out through their cold emotionless helmets. "Let's all play nice like good little children." Jody managed to say as he chambered a round in his M-16.

Reeve swallowed hard as he felt the muzzle of the weapon brush against his short black hair.

"No need to get pushy gentlemen, he and I were only having a little disagreement…that's all." Hojo was nervous as well but not for the same reasons as his associate. The young man, known as Cloud, had been vague with his report. He mentioned nothing of the Shinra Mansion. Some of the scientists most prized experiments were contained in that structure…not too mention a couple dark secrets. What about the reactor on Mt. Nibel? What of it?

Norelliies Neidlictzech hid her hands between her thighs. Her blank facial expression was getting on Leira's nerves. Ever since Sephiroth had dumped the head of the Turk Elite, her charisma had suffered. She seemed almost lifeless.

Leira snapped her fingers in front of her team leader's face. "Yo, Midgar calling Norry…come in, Norry."

The twenty nine year old Kalm woman shook as her brooding was interrupted. "Huh?"

"Come on, Norry…I had no idea that he was after me, honest! I've got a man, already!" she smiled but quickly got rid of it when she saw her commanding officer's eyes tearing. "Norr…I was just trying to help…"

The older woman nodded. "I know. It has already been almost a week. I guess I should be over him. I'm glad that I had a friend like you in my corner."

Leira tugged at her long brown braid with one hand and rolled her helmet around on her lap with the other. She was still in shock that the man of her own dreams did have feelings for her. "Can you believe it? We've got to hunt down Zack, Sephiroth and Cloud…not too mention a whole town"

Norelliies straightened her posture. "Well, kiddo, we can't fail here or it will be our asses on the line, too!"

Leira's good humor began to darken. She forgot about that part. Despite her strong position in the Shinra food chain, there were always bigger fish to swim along, swallow her whole, and spit out her bones. Come on Leira, think of something positive!

Norelliies put her right hand on Leira's shoulder. "How do you think Reno's doing?"

"I don't know. Tseng grabbed him away as soon as the alert blared. I hope he's going to be there with me."

"Or at the very least keeping his dick in his pants." Neidlictzech removed her hand and playfully punched her comrade in the shoulder. "You know how men can be-even Reno!"

Leira managed a slight giggle. "I guess you're right. I just know that our group will be called on to assess the fire damage. I'm sure someone somewhere will want to save that dive of a town."

The Elite's face went flush and sweat beads began to drip from her brow. She tugged at the button down collar of her uniform.

"Norry? Are you okay?"

Jody and his partner began to cough. Their weapons swayed precariously from side to side. Their sudden changes in stature almost went completely unnoticed by the board members with the exception of one man. Hojo himself began to feel a little ill. Something was definitely happening in Nibelheim, during the uneasy radio silence.

"Sephiroth!"

"Wha?" the sentiment was shared throughout Shinra Tower Midgar.

"Isn't that, what's his name?" asked Scarlet.

"Cloud!!" shot Reeve as he shouted into his speakerphone.

"I've found him. Zack and our guide are seriously injured. Everyone else has fled or died!" whispered the boy. "He's got something in his hand…WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING?! IT LOOKS LIKE A HEAD!"

A muffled voice could be heard over some static. "Come with me mother. We will find the Promised Land and rule together!"

Norelliies sat in disbelief. The radio had been so quiet; she almost forgot that the Shinra higher ups had the all channels option on. Everyone in Shinra was hearing the events as they unfolded. She sat in disbelief. How could the crazed voice on the radio be the man that she had been infatuated with? How could he be the same man that she thought loved her? She began to cough.

"Norry? For god's sake, Norry! Are you okay?!" Leira was feeling a little feverish for some reason but she was sure that Norelliies was feeling much worse.

The other SOLDIERs in the room began to cough. Some of them actually leaned against a wall for support or sat down.

"YOU KILLED THEM ALL!" Cloud was completely enraged. "HOW COULD YOU, YOU MONSTER!"

Hojo dabbed at his brow with the napkin that he was using as a coaster for his coffee cup. He was painfully aware that one of his darkest secrets was discovered by the most unlikely of candidates. He eyed the reactions of the guards as the radio message continued. Unexplained sickness was not going to keep Hojo from missing this most entertaining proceeding.

Sephiroth said something in reply to Cloud but the signal was getting weak. Sounds of a verbal dispute were heard but the actual sentences were garbled. The sound of steel clanging against steel did very little to help the listeners understand. Had some kind of fight broken out in Nibelheim? Where were Cloud and Sephiroth, anyway?

Jody Mymians dropped his weapon and doubled over. His comrade fought to hold onto his rifle but accidentally pulled the trigger. A shot barely missed Heidegger. The former military man pushed himself backwards away from the table.

"EVERYONE, GET BACK-OH, SHIT!!" another shot whizzed past Reeve. He had a sidearm somewhere close by…where was the blasted thing again?!

Heidegger drew a small nine-millimeter pistol from the liner of his jacket. He was nobody's target.

Scarlet drew her trusty Glock from her red garter belt and quickly filled up her site with the Elite's head. She could have cared less about the welfare of her business partners. Her motive for drawing her weapon was purely for her own survival. The two men in blue uniforms were blocking her only means of escape.

Jody's body became wracked with convulsions. Saliva dripped from the corners of his mouth and his blue Mako enhanced eyes were almost purple with ruptured blood vessels.

The SOLDIER that had once trained his weapon on Hojo tore off his helmet and vomited on the floor. He tugged at his sides as the chunky green-brown fluid splattered the wheels underneath Hojo's seat.

The entire executive wing was on their feet and fighting for the exit.

A scream from thousands of miles away sprung forth from the radio and was accompanied by another. If one were to listen closely, the sound of fabric and metal being ripped asunder would also have been heard.

Finally an audible cry of, "HOW CAN THIS BE?!" won back the attention of the frightened managerial personnel.

Leira was horrified by what was happening around her. Every one of the SOLDIERs gave the appearance of being violently ill.

General Neidlictzech slid sideways off the crate she was perched upon and regurgitated her lunch. "Sephiroth!" she managed to blurt out between a small attack of dry heaves.

The man that had once had his weapon trained on Hojo was beginning to lose his grip.

Reeve saw this and called out to Heidegger. "DAMMIT, MAKE THOSE LAZY ASS BOTTOM FEEDING EMPLOYEES OF YOUR'S USEFUL AND GET THEM OVER HERE BEFORE WE ALL GET KILLED!"

"DO IT!" Scarlet conceded.

Heidegger removed a small cell phone from a pocket in his baggy tan pants. He pushed a small red button. Hopefully, his man in the Manufacturing Department would be in the building.

Reno stood over the body of a recent kill. He rubbed his swollen jaw and picked up his warped pair of sunglasses. "That was a pair of eight hundred gil sunglasses, asshole!"

Blood trailed out of the slain SOLDIER's mouth.

"C'mon, Reno. I don't think you actually HAD to kill him. Some people don't like losing at poker." The redhead's normally silent companion, Rude, offered.

The young Turk cracked his knuckles and set to work trying to bend his sunglasses back into place. "Voila! Hey, Rude…I guess yer right!" he chuckled and fished out forty gil from his pocket and handed it to him. "I guess I didn't have to kill him. Well, whaddaya think about that. See, they just popped right back into place!! Good as new!!"

The head of the Turks rubbed the bridge of his nose. There were so many days that he just felt calling it quits and letting the "unemployment squad" kill him. Sometimes, the actions displayed by his subordinates was mind numbing. How he wished for death. His left pant pocket began to quiver. "WHAT NOW?!"

"I hope that's yer phone in there!" Reno pointed at Tseng's hips.

The Wutai man extended his middle finger as he pulled his phone out and put it to his ear. "Tseng here."

"GODDAMMIT, WHERE ARE THOSE FOOLS OF YOUR'S, HEIDEGER?!" the man in charge of public relations for Shinra shouted in the background.

Tseng's normally slit-like eyes flew open.

"Wow, he looks almost normal like that." Reno whispered to Rude.

"Tseng, we've got a situation in the conference room." Heidegger started.

The SOLDIER lost his handle on the machine gun and let it drop. The long heavy instrument crashed to the ground and released a spray of bullets.

"NOW GET YOUR WORTHLESS ASSES UP HERE!" he managed to continue before ducking for cover.

Tseng calmly tucked the tiny silver phone back into his pocket. "People we need to move. Apparently, this guy," he kicked at the bleeding corpse on the floor, "isn't the only one that acting funny. The higher ups need our aid."

Without any further word, the three Turks ran to the nearest elevator and proceeded to the floor that contained the conference area.

More shrill cries of pain carried through the radio waves. One cry in particular seemed like it was getting further and further away. It almost relayed a feeling very much like someone being defenestrated.

Leira coughed and hacked as everyone else in the room shrieked and plummeted to the ground. Her own general let out a piercing wail and collapsed. One word was uttered from the blonde woman's lips before she became lifeless like the others, "mother."

"Hojo…" Reeve mustered as the jarring cries of the two SOLDIERs subsided. "What did those men just yell at the tops of their lungs? It sounded to me like they said 'mother'. You wouldn't happen to know why these men would say something as silly as that…now would you?"

President Shinra gave his top scientist an icy glare. "Hojo?"

The door to the conference room burst open. "GET DOWN!" Reno bellowed as Rude pushed past him. Both men had their Glock 21s drawn.

Tseng walked in last with his hands in his pockets. As was the norm for him, he exuded tranquility. The epithelial folds of his eyelids hung low giving him the appearance of walking in his sleep.


	11. Insanity's Wake Part 2 New Orders

"It's about time, Tseng! I think they're dead!" Reeve scolded.

The Wutai native scanned the area. "Who?"

"Hey, boss! These guys over here!" Rude hollered as he checked Mymians' vitals.

Reno tried to check the fallen SOLDIER. "Rude, your guy got a pulse?"

The bald man nodded.

After removing one of the man's shooting gloves, Reno was finally able to check for any signs of a heartbeat. "So does mine."

Hojo stepped over Rude and looked on. The scientist took note of the black number that was stenciled into the skin of the Elite's bicep. "You, with the red hair!"

Reno lifted his head. "Names Reno…not 'you.'"

"Does that SOLDIER have any dog tags?" Hojo blatantly ignored the Turk.

Reno felt around inside the man's high collar. His fingers came to rest on the small thin chrome chain that held the identification tags. He pulled them out and watched them as they solemnly glittered in artificial lighting. "Found 'em."

Hojo folded his hands behind his back and pondered how he should present his next question. He was well aware of Reeve's attitude on the current events. It seemed that that man was the only one in the room, besides himself, that was beginning to put things together. I cannot let him get any closer or everything will be shut down and my special little project will never be completed. Hojo started to sweat a little more. He reached into one of the pockets in his long lab coat and brought out a small bottle of pills. He could not believe how heavy his coat had become. If he was feeling this way, how were the other members of SOLDIER coping with their new strain of…

He gingerly removed the top of the plastic bottle and raised it to his mouth. Slowly he tapped one into his waiting mouth and put the lid back on before he returned the bottle to his pocket. After swallowing the quarter inch long pill, he glanced over his shoulder. "This man…he's from SOLDIER, yes?"

"That would be what the uniform implies, doctor…this is what we pay him for, Mr. President?" Reeve snapped.

"Yes, sir." answered Reno. "There's a third tag…what does 'J.P.' mean?"

"J.P.?" Scarlet rolled the initials over and over in the back of her mind. She looked at Heidegger. Things were getting interesting.

Rude put his hands into the Elite's collar. "This guy's got 'em too. Wow, imagine…having the same initials."

"Those aren't their initials." Scarlet shook a fist at them. "Heidegger, I told you about laying off these men. My Elite's are more cost effective!"

"Hojo," Reeve stepped forward. "You and I are going to have a little talk."

Inside his large head, the Shinra president was adding things together. It was confirmed that the two fallen men were from SOLDIER ranks. How many more SOLDIERs were in this same condition? How many were in Midgar…? "There's no time to argue!" he blurted out. "Do you have ANY idea how many SOLDIERs are in this building?! Do you have any idea how many of them might be just lying on a floor somewhere doing nothing?! Have you any idea of all the money I'm losing on them, right now?!"

Reeve slapped his forehead. Leave it to that man to be more concerned with money than lives. Suddenly, a missed bit of information sunk into his brain. His jaw almost hit the ground. If the SOLDIERs were like this, what was going on with Leira? She had told him hours ago that she and her squad of Elites were to head to Nibelheim. "Oh, no."

"Something wrong, Reeve?" Scarlet asked with slight disinterest.

"LEIRA'S DOWN THERE SOMEWHERE!" shouted Reeve.

The head of the weapon's development team was in shock.

Reno let the unconscious man in his arms crash to the floor as he jumped to his feet. Leira? With a bunch of SOLDIERs? "Tseng, I'm outta here!" He sped out of the room at top speed while yanking his Glock out of its side holster.

"Reno, we're not done here!" Tseng yelled after him.

"No, but your careers might be! Follow the man!" Scarlet and Reeve screamed in unison.

Reno ran to the nearest elevator. He pushed in the button to the next floor.

The large bulletproof doors slid open and several SOLDIERs toppled out unconscious.

The redheaded man shook his head. No time to pull out any bodies. It would be quicker to go down the stairs. He ran to the right of the elevator and screeched to a halt at the door to the stairwell. He had no idea what floor his lover would be on but he was willing to search them all if need be.

"Wren, wait up!"

"Hey, Reno!"

The voices of his coworkers echoed in the hall behind him. He was not going to wait.

The thin Turk paced himself as he traveled down the white staircase. "So many damn stairs!"

Tseng and Rude both tripped over the fallen SOLDIERs sprawled around the open elevator. They could hear the sound of Reno's Shinra issue dress shoes through each vibration in the cold flat tile floor beneath them.

Rude felt a hand tug at his left ankle and cautiously turned his head around. One of the SOLDIERs had succeeded in getting his attention.

"Help us…" The man said weakly. "Help him…"

"AaaayaAAH." Tseng's hands slapped the ground and somehow he managed to back himself into a sitting position. A couple more sets of hands were grabbing at his wrists.

Rude's sunglasses slid down his nose. He looked into each person's exposed face. Their vacant eyes were rolled back in their heads. Some of them even had drool hanging from the corners of their mouths. Instantly, the bald man was reminded of so many scenes from horror movies he watched as a boy. Live action was proving to be so much creepier.

The moans of "Help him, help him," continued.

The head of the Turks pulled out his sidearm. This action was repeated in extremely rare circumstances. He noticed something gold sticking out from underneath the cuff of his sleeve. He pushed the blue fabric of his blazer back. "Time to go!" he yelled after glancing at his watch.

Rude nodded in agreement and dashed off after his boss.

Both men missed a round of new-agonized cries. "Mother…mother…where's Sephiroth?"

Reno continued. He had scoured three common rooms. No sign of Leira.

As he traveled through the hallways littered with fallen SOLDIERs, he happened to glance into another room. The door had been flung open. A figure with a long brown braid was precariously seated on the edge of a crate. She was staring down at something.

Reno grabbed the door handle to help himself come to a stop. The sudden halt tugged at his arm and sent him careening into the concrete wall. "WHOOOOMPF!" The things that he did for this woman. "That's gonna leave a mark…" He rubbed at the dull pain that had begun to throb in both arms.

He poked his head inside the room. "LEIRA!"

She did not move.

"LEIRA!" he shouted again.

A SOLDIER crawled over to her. The cruel helmet glared at her. "Mother needs us…mother needs you…"

The female Elite was devoid of any emotion. She could hear dull demanding whispers but she could not understand them.

"…Will you help…help her…" the SOLDIER passed out and slapped against the floor at her feet.

"LEIRA!" Reno was almost at her.

Lieandra brought a hand to her face and coughed. Her entire body was slowly becoming cold and numb. "Reno?"

She felt strong arms wrap around her shoulders.

"Yeah, it's me!" he said. He embraced her as tightly as he could. His head rubbed against the side of her face. "It's okay…I'm right here!"

She reached up and held onto his shoulders weakly. He felt so warm. It was obvious he was exhausted. She could feel his rapid heartbeat accompanied by his heavy breathing.

"Mother needs me…why can't she tell me?"

That did it! Reno lifted his head from its place on her shoulder and gazed into her eyes. He was completely puzzled. "Lei, your mother's dead…"

"I…I thought so, too…but he said…" she pointed to the SOLDIER at her feet.

Reno violently shook his head. "No. You told me yourself. She's dead, Lei. She can't talk to you anymore. You're old enough to know this. My parents are dead, too…have been…just like yours. I think you're just stressed." he held her tighter this time.

All Leira found herself able to do was blink and tap his shoulders beneath her fingertips.

The only room on the floor that had not been checked was coming up. Tseng and Rude were visibly shaken from their previous encounter at the elevator.

"They've got be here somewhere!" Rude glanced at his employer.

Tseng's eyes were extremely wide. "We haven't checked over there!"

Both men held their guns out in front of them, primed to fire.

Rude checked around the doorway. "They're in there!" He edged along the wall while glancing from side to side: waiting for any of the fallen SOLDIERs to start grabbing at him.

Reno's attention was diverted from his love. "Guys she's okay! She's just a little shaken is all."

The two men stood on either side of him.

"Wow, isn't that General Neidlictzech?" asked Rude looking down at the unconscious blonde woman.

"I know." Reno smiled and faced him. "Ain't she a fox?!"

"Hey, Reno, isn't that always how you wanted her?! You know unconscious and unable to fight?" Rude laughed.

Reno blushed. He turned back to Leira, half-expecting to hear her angered protests. Nothing. Silence was still passing its withdrawn whisper throughout the room.

"Oookay…that's really not like her…" Reno returned his weapon to its holster and scratched his head in wonderment. He backed away while Tseng knelt down in front of her.

The black haired man snapped his fingers in front of her face several times. "This is just fucking strange."

"Tell me about it." Rude confirmed.

Tseng held is gun in front of her and moved it from side to side.

Surprisingly her eyes followed the black weapon's motions.

"Hmmm…" Tseng hummed.

"FREEZE!" a shout disrupted the still room and scared its occupants. Six-foot soldiers ran into the room and surrounded the Elite and her companions. "We're going to take it from here!"

"You can't!" Reno stood in front of Leira and Tseng. "She needs help!"

"Umm…Reno." Rude mumbled. "Look around you."

"So do they," one of the foot soldiers muttered. "Maybe you haven't noticed?!"

Reno swallowed as Tseng tried to offer words of encouragement. "She'll be okay. At least there's brain activity."

The bald man punched his employer in the shoulder. "That was harsh, man. What are you guys going to do?"

"We don't have to answer to likes of you." Came another soldier's gruff protest.

"It's okay, gentlemen. I'll take it from here."

The foot soldiers parted to allow Reeve entry. "I'm thankful for your concern for my niece." he smiled and straightened the cuffs of his jacket. "You won't need to worry about her anymore. She's coming home with me to Junon. I'm going to be taking care of her, from now on."

Reno shook his head. That could not happen. He would never see her again.

"Wrong!" shouted Scarlet as she entered with Heidegger and Hojo in tow. "The President wants everyone, able enough to stand, to get over to Nibelheim on the double. There's no telling how many survivors have fled from that town! Think of all the bad press we're getting! Not all the SOLDIERs are down! Junon and Costa del Sol has just released its active members a short while ago. You Turks are going down there to assess the damage. The President wants a full damage estimate."

"Costa del Sol?" That was music to Reno's ears.

"They're busy trying to get the fire under control." The woman in red said calmly. "Everyone unable to fight is going to the infirmary."

"I'm going to with my science division." Hojo added as he popped another pill.

"Dammit, man, you've been popping those things like candy since we got here!" Heidegger bellowed in annoyance.

Tseng was confused. He hated politics, especially when it came to the well being of one of his own. Leira may have been an Elite but she still bore the Turk name. "I can't let you do that." he directed to Heidegger.

The bulbous man laughed. "Sorry, my boy. She's under Scarlet's jurisdiction just like the rest of the Elites."

"Bummer." Reno whispered as he scratched the back of his head. He could still hear Scarlet's mention of Costa del Sol.

"That absolutely can not be right!" Reeve's fists were at his sides. His fingers curled so tightly that the fingernails pressed into his sweaty palms threatened to puncture the skin.

"Orders are orders." The blonde weapons head smiled and put a hand on her hip. "Now, you four get moving!"

Tseng and Rude sulked out of the room. Reno knelt before Leira. "You can walk right?" he rested his hands on hers.

"Yeah." came her vacant reply.

The Turk did his best to help her to her feet. "I guess we'll be off, then."

Reeve stormed over to the redhead. He shoved a strong finger into the man's chest. "If something happens to her, you're looking at something worse than relocation!"

The couple exited the room. "Y'know, Lei, sometimes you're more trouble than you're-hey!"

Leira leaned against a wall and coughed some more.

"It's okay…its okay." he tried to comfort her. A small vibration became recognizable. "Whoa-ho! That feels good!" Reno chided as he remembered his own cell phone was in his left pants pocket. He grinned in his own amusement and put the small silver phone to his ear. "I'm surprised I still have minutes on this thing…damn long distance carriers…" He looked over at Leira before answering his phone. "Reno here." A huge smile plastered his face. "Hey, buddy what's up?!" he covered the tiny mouthpiece and put his focus on Leira. "You've got to meet this guy!" He returned to the person on the other end. "Yeah, I heard you were heading to Nibelheim. Oh, you're there now! I'm going too! Yeah…yeah…we had some SOLDIERs pass out here too! You're a SOLDIER, my main man, you hangin' in there?"

Leira was regaining a little more awareness. She eyed Reno with a light curiosity.

"Man, that's too bad…bet Benton was scared shitless. Yep, I'll bet he did. So, you're in Nibelheim, right? Cool, cool. How bad is it? Wow! Worse than Wutai?! That's pretty fuckin' bad!"

Leira tapped her lover on the shoulder.

"Hey, man, I gotta run! I'll see ya in a bit! Just hang in there. I'm glad ya called…oh, is Benny gonna be there? I know, I know…Benton…so, he gonna be there? No! That's too bad. It won't be a party without him."

"Reno." Leira whispered and pressed the full length of her body against his. She lightly nibbled at the skin above his shirt collar.

"Whoa!" he rubbed at the top of her head with his free hand. "No, no. I'm fine! Believe me I'm fine, Tim-Tim. I just got someone here you gotta meet. Yep. You take care too! Cool talking' to ya. Later." The redhead hurriedly turned his phone off and tucked it back into his pocket. In the hallway…right now?! He couldn't say that his lover's behavior was uncommon. He just did not expect her to act this way when she was obviously feeling bad. He searched the hallway for any signs of Reeve or anyone else. He put his hands to her buttocks and pulled her in closer to him.

Leira's hands moved up and down his back. She lifted her head and gazed into his blue eyes.

"You okay?" Reno said softly.

She nodded at him and began to gently kiss him.

Reno closed his eyes and joined her. At least something else was coming up roses for him.


	12. Insanity's Wake Part 3 Cleansing

Leira pressed her lover's body further against the wall and tugged the flaps of his blue blazer apart. Her tongue expertly passed down the side of his neck as her hands moved to the white plastic buttons of his shirt.

Reno gripped her bottom tighter with each of her strokes.

Heidegger glanced around the inside of the room. Somehow, he was going to be getting a large portion of the blame. His bushy black eyebrows were almost one with his thinning hairline. Maybe he should have just stuck to making mechanical weapons instead of using humans.

Unlike him, Scarlet was undaunted. Her fingers tapped at her folded arms while her hips bopped from side to side. The high heel of her left shoe beat against the ground impatiently. "You're going to fix this mess, Hojo! I don't care what it takes! The president's losing money and so is everyone else because of your stupid blunder!"

"What are you so worried about, Scarlet?! I'm sure you could just sleep your way into forgiveness like you have done before!" Reeve exclaimed glaring at her.

Hojo stormed over to her. He was tired of being blamed for his efforts. "Just you listen to me! It was your idea to become partners NOT MINE. You knew about my Jenova Project research! It was your idea to incorporate it into SOLDIER. Did you not get your batch of 'super-SOLDIERs' like you wanted?! There was no way for me to predict that this would happen. Something traumatic must have happened in Nibelheim for them all to fall. These silly funding details can only take one so far before the money's gone…" his thin pale brow crinkled as his right hand rubbed the bottom of his chin.

"GYAHAHAHAHAHA!" Heidegger laughed. "You should have just stuck to making better guns!"

The angered blonde stomped into a corner first than dashed around checking each fallen individual's rank. "Why did they have to all be SOLDIERs and Elites?!"

Reeve turned to Hojo and stared at the ground while shaking his head. "Now, why did they all fall over, Hojo?" He wanted to keep his tone as discreet as possible.

"I…I-don't know-hyuuuurck!" Hojo blubbered as Reeve grabbed him by his long black necktie.

The head of public relations for Shinra put his face into the scientist's line of sight and gritted his teeth together. "You DO know!" he glanced over his shoulder at his coworkers to make sure they weren't aware of this most private of conversations. "You do know, you bastard! You told me that you stopped the Jenova Project years ago after you put together that white haired monster! This all has something to do with that alien you and Gast were so determined to prove was an Ancient! Doesn't it?!"

Hojo began to shake some more. "It must be her…she must have been hurt…it wouldn't have been this bad if it were just Sephiroth…" he looked into Reeve's eyes as sweat began to drip down his brow.

"Reeve! What do you think you're doing to the good doctor?" asked Scarlet as she nimbly approached the two men.

"I wasn't doing anything…" he said releasing his grip on the fabric. "I was just helping our friend with a couple of his pills." He forced an evil toothy smile and pulled out Hojo's medication.

The professor thrashed his head from side to side while Reeve ripped the lid off and dropped a couple into his palm.

"See?" Reeve yanked on the man's ponytail and crammed the majority of the pills down his victim's throat.

"That was a very sweet gesture, though, dear…but I'm sure you could have been nicer about it."

Hojo gagged and tried his best to spit as many of the pills out as he could. "You mean to tell me you thought all those numbers were for something else?!" The aged man mustered a malicious laugh.

Reeve's eyes darted around the room. He remembered Scarlet's distress at the fallen that consisted mainly of "SOLDIERs and Elites." All the black ink etched into biceps and hands, how could he have been so blind? Leira had been given two so many years ago. He knew what the numbers meant back then. Why did he suddenly find himself to be too trusting when it came to taking people's words at face value?

In truth, Heidegger cared less about the manpower. All he could do at this point was continue to rub at his chin and grin. Those were some handsome looking assault rifles lining the walls. At least the majority of them had taken the time to prop them up before dropping dead…or whatever.

Reeve licked his lips and cracked his knuckles. "So, Mr. Scientist, how long do you think they'll be like this?!"

"I…There's no way of telling, really…there could be a chance of them all being comatose forever-"

"Or as long as the president deems fit." Scarlet butted in.

"No one asked you!" Reeve pulled Hojo by his lab coat over to another side of the room.

A call came over the loudspeaker planted in a corner close to the door. "Shinra executive heads are being expected in the conference room for an important meeting with the President. I repeat: all Shinra executive heads are being expected in the main conference room for a meeting with the President of the Shinra Electric Power Company."

"Hmmm…suit yourself, dear." The woman in red grabbed Heidegger's arm and snatched the top part of Hojo's right ear. "We've got somewhere to be-I hope you guys are ready to take a plunge!" She pulled both men out of the room, leaving Reeve behind.

The head of public relations glanced about him. The fallen were not his problem…directly. He had nothing to do with SOLDIER and he wanted to keep it that way.

A SOLDIER rolled over onto his back, while another moaned in pain. Slowly each man and woman was beginning to regain consciousness. A thought surfaced in the executive's mind. He slowly reached into his suit and removed his sidearm.

Reno squirmed unintentionally as Leira slowly passed a hand gently down to the area between his thighs. Her fingers constricted and released in a curious rhythm in an attempt to make him hard.

Their lips met only a couple times more before he found himself breaking off from her sweet kiss and involuntarily swallowing. His elbows and shoulders were square against the white concrete wall. His eyelids blinked of their own accord as he tried to watch her. He wanted to feel her. He wanted to experience her softness.

In an attempt to offer some sort of contribution his right hand found its way to her chest. Methodically he clutched at her left breast beneath its tight polyester penitentiary.

Scarlet had just barely rounded the doorway when she screeched to a halt. "Aww-isn't that cute?"

Heidegger stared at the couple before them and blushed.

The white-coated professor failed to notice that his associates were no longer mobile. He slammed into the rotund general's back. "Honestly, I don't understand what your problems are. I'm sure this situation is only temporary…" He snorted conceitedly after he jerked himself away from the human wall known as Heidegger. He adjusted his glasses on his nose. "We have a meeting to attend and I know that the both of you share the same feelings on this matter as…myself…?" Fear began to tug at his heartstrings when he finally noticed the identities of the hallway lovers.

Hojo had witnessed this behavior before. He had been married once. An avalanche of numbers and faces screamed before his eyes. So many faces, so many experiments. "OF COURSE…" Why hadn't he noticed it before? If he was wrong, he was surely going to be in the thick of danger. He brushed passed his coworkers and stormed over to the oblivious lovers. "UNHAND HER!"

The two jumped as the scientist's voice rang out.

He was right. The female was part of his Jenova experiment. He never forgot a face. Why was she seemingly unaffected? She wasn't on any of the medication rosters?

"Something wrong, old man?" Reno mused as he crossed his hands behind his neck.

Leira noticed Scarlet and Heidegger in the distance. She stood firm despite her embarrassment.

"You have no right to touch her!" the scientist wedged himself between the pair.

The Turk lifted his hands as if he had been apprehended by Shinra law enforcement. "Sorry, but she's my girl, grandpa-you're gonna have ta…!"

BLAM-BLAM-BLAM-BLAM

"WHOT THE BLOODY HELL WAS THAT?!" Scarlet shouted.

Reno ran his tongue between his lips in an almost corporal manner. "Let's get out of here!" he grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her away while the Shinra heads were distracted.

"Wait! Don't you think we should-" Leira pleaded.

"Nope, no time!" Reno's grip was so tight on her it was impossible for her to resist his beckoning.

Hojo was the first to determine where the disruption had stemmed from. He began to sweat once again, as his body turned in a clockwise manner.

"Who's not here with us?" questioned Heidegger.

His inquiry was answered before it even escaped his lips. Scarlet darted off back into the room containing her precious SOLDIERs and Elites. "What is Reeve DOING?!" Her voice was heard as she disappeared around the corner.

The Shinra officers that had accompanied Reeve from the top floor were experiencing a mix of fear, revulsion, and anger. One man tried to make a run for him and stop him but was met with a bullet through his kneecap. He toppled over as another soldier succeeded in grabbing a hold of the insane executive's coat and trigger hand.

Reeve kicked out the man's leg and reached behind his own head with an unburdened hand. He contorted his fingers into a makeshift claw and seized him by the exposed tissue of his throat. Several pressure points were stimulated at once and the poor officer found himself unable to maintain his iron grip.

After callously kicking the weakened man away, he inquisitively confirmed the status of the handgun's clip. "Just nine more rounds left…"

BLAM

"…eight…" he corrected himself.

A SOLDIER that had managed to pull himself up by means of a chalkboard ledge found himself kissing the caked in mildew of the hard green and white tiled floor.

"Uhnn…" Norelliies mustered enough strength to push herself up onto her hands and knees.

Reeve had taken aim at another SOLDIER but paused when he heard the Elite commander's moan. His jaw dropped and he slung himself around to face her.

The woman with the blonde braid rubbed her forehead and swiped at the couple specks of bile that remained on her lips. "Guys!" Her head swung from left to right. "…guys…"

One of the men that Reeve had slain lie on his back adjacent to her right shoulder. The crimson lifeblood had halted its flow in a spider web like pattern. The darkness of his pupils seemed to gaze, upside down, emptily at the floor.

"Ohmigod-" she sputtered and tried to crawl away.

"Uh-uh." A gentleman's voice sounded.

The young woman felt something hot against her brow. She suddenly took notice of a pair of expensive shiny black leather shoes before her. The blueness of her eyes was hidden behind heavy frightened eyelids.

"I trusted you to keep her away from here, m'dear. You let me down."

"Please…please-" she begged. "I didn't know about him-I didn't know…" her voice trailed off as she focused on the cruel chill of his words.

"Even if you 'didn't know' it doesn't matter. The fact is that you are one of them-and-well, you need to go away."

Her sad eyes gazed upwards into the face of her unfeeling impartial executioner.

For a short while, the chill on the blonde woman's face bothered him. She had the look of being absolutely terrified.

A slight frown decorated his features before darkening into the coldest of smiles. "Rest in peace, dear dear Norelliies."


	13. Insanity's Wake Part 4 The Move

"Just where are we supposed to be going?" Leira panted as Reno led the way.

"We're on our way to Nibelheim, remember?! The guys are probably waiting on us at the hangar."

She was not in the mood to be dragged through the Shinra building. She was sweating profusely and had a lot on her mind. Norelliies was possibly unconscious or dead along with everyone else in that space. Sephiroth was on a rampage and another one of her friends was stuck in the middle.

With all her might, she yanked on her lover's arm. "Reno, we need to stop and go back!"

He seemed to be ignoring her voice and her efforts to escape. What could be so important?

Through each hallway, Leira continued her pleading and struggling. Reno scarcely offered any words of encouragement or sympathy. "We're almost there." Were the only words he would utter.

The entrance to the Midgar underground hangar drew near. Its massive bay doors were open to the starry night sky.

Helicopters lifted off the ground while Gelnikas prepared for a vertical take off of their own.

Reno spotted his teammates in the distance. They were gathered around one of the white black and blue transports, probably waiting for orders to lift off. "Looks like we've still got some to kill."

"What? What are you-?"

Reno cocked his head to the side and blinked at her. He ran his hands through her long hair, admiring its smoothness and color, but stopped when he noticed Tseng begin to turn in their direction. The red headed man pushed her into a side hallway before his boss was able to see them.

Leira hit against the wall with her back. "Shouldn't we be over there with the others?"

"Like I said," he pushed his face into hers and shared a quick wet kiss. "We've got some time to kill."

"Reeve-sir, I beg you!" Norelliies' life was flashing through her eyes. Her acceptance into the Academy, her graduation and acceptance into SOLDIER, meeting Sephiroth for the first time in her life, leaving Kalm, getting promoted to head the Turk Elites, finding out that Sephiroth felt for her the way she did for him, it had been a dream come true. What a predicament she was in, a gun held to her head by a man that had everyone fooled into believing he was a saint.

This saint had nothing but blood in his eyes. He administered a sharp upward kick into the girl's chest.

The poor creature doubled up even more as her hands retreated to her bust line, trying to avoid protection from any more attacks.

"It's too late. You thought you got one over on me-didn't you, you son of a bitch. Here's what I think of you-"

She was barely able to hear her predator's voice let alone understand them. The pain she was experiencing had put her senses into overload. The only thing she could understand was that her own death was becoming imminent. What a way to die this was. No smiles, no laughter, no mercy. All that was left for her to hold onto was betrayal, manipulation, sorrow and death. In her tortured mind, she could see Reeve begin to pull back on the trigger.

Scarlett entered the room. She was thrilled to see her human toys conscious but something was amiss. She put one of her long red fingernails to mouth and tapped it against the tip of her bottom incisors. "Curious…"

"REEVE!" Heidegger wasted no words. He pushed the red woman out of his way and thumped into the room.

Hojo had heard the commotion. He wearily poked his head into the room to investigate. "Stop him! STOP HIM!" he screamed when he saw that one of his experiments was endangered.

"Reeve, back away! You're not yourself today. We're all upset about the money we've lost in this venture-" Scarlett tried to offer.

"It's NOT about the money you whore!" Reeve pushed the gun harder against Norelliies' head.

"Come now, old man! If it's not the money, what could be-?"

Reeve snatched his captive by her hair causing her to screech in agonized terror.

All the Elite could do was to attempt to strong-arm herself out of his ruthless grasp. Without the proper strength and concentration, she was hurting herself more and driving the point of the handgun deeper and deeper into her skin.

From out of nowhere, a white coat flashed through the air and a streak of black, darted from the doorway.

Hojo rammed into Reeve at full tilt. He knew Reeve was physically superior to him so the best he could hope for was to stun him.


	14. On Location Part One

While she worked his length, she imagined how many blue uniforms were fleeing in terror or crushed by fallen flame ridden debris. How many of her own kind were already in Nibelheim stroking their ornately colored gemstones chanting to some strange deity for permission to use otherwise forbidden magic to perform simple tasks? 

"Ooh…uh…heh…heh…" Reno's body was just about as stiff as his burning purple member. Her eyes had opened briefly to study his upper half. His eyes were so tight she imagined them being sewn shut. His lips pulled back and his teeth clenched as if struggling between life and death.

His chin snapped upwards and his hips began to thrust on their own. From Leira's vantage point she could make out the bottoms of his eyelashes fluttering in spurts. His breathing was rapid and audible. So much for one simple task.

Was it anything short of the effort Leira was putting into making Reno explode in her mouth?

"I'm…uh…uh…almost…there!" Reno shouted as the palms of his hands moved from the wall behind him to the top of Leira's head. His long fingers weaved around her brown roots and began to pull her face closer to his groin. The feeling of his manhood thrust further back into her throat was almost enough to make her gag but she was still able to lave him with her tongue.

The Highwind entered Nibelheim airspace and the updrafts caused by the raging fires rocked the ship with so much turbulence, Leira was unsure of how she was able to balance herself.

"Nnnnh…uh…AHHHH-uh!" Finally, her effort had paid off as Leira's trembling lover ejaculated. It was almost as much a relief for her as it must have been for him. The sweat gathered at his hairline cooled and dripped from his furrowed brow.

Her hands squeezed gently at his testicles until she was certain that he was truly finished.

"ALL UNITS REPORT TO THE CARGO BAY ENTRANCE A.S.A.P. THE HIGHWIND HAS MADE Its FINAL APPROACH AND PERMISSION HAS BEEN GRANTED TO DISEMBARK UPON LANDING."

The Elite swallowed his seed and smiled rising to look her lover in the eyes. Reno leaned closer to her and kissed her cheek as he fondled her breasts beneath their polyester covering. 

"You don't think that guy will report us…do you? It's not like we missed anything…right?" He muttered as his unclenched his eyelids and tucked his manhood back through the y opening in his boxers.

After some careful consideration, Leira shook her head. "How hard is it to use ice materia to calm a raging fire?" She fixed Reno's pants for him and passed him a questioning glance.

"It's not just that…" Reno stroked his chin. "Nibelheim has a lot of citizenry for a small town. Shinra's gotta wipe out all witnesses before word leaks out that one of it's finest went ahead and flipped out." He tried to keep himself from smiling as he thought back to the strange kinship his lover and the man known as Sephiroth had shared for so many years. "You up to this?"

The Elite nodded and reached over to pick up her helmet. "As ready as I'll ever be…but…"

"But?" Reno put his right hand at her chin and gazed into her green eyes.

She hesitated for a couple beats and looked away from him. "I never thought it would come to this. Why MY general? He couldn't possibly be as vicious as they're making him out…"

Reno exhaled and stared at the ceiling. "Remember what you told me about Norry? How he treated her? That doesn't seem underhanded to you?"

"It's not the same, Reno!"

The redhead shrugged and looked behind their fortress of wooden crates to see if any SOLDIERs were arriving at the exit. Emerging in front of this lot would have to be done extra carefully as not to arouse any suspicion. If Reeve or Scarlett found out what had just happened…"Oh, shit!!"

"What?" Leira lost her train of thought.

"That crew guy with the armband…he's talkin' to your 'auntie.'"

"Scarlett? She wouldn't do anything to you, since I'm involved…and would you PAH-LEASE stop calling her my aunt?! We are not related!"

"Whatever, doll. No one is looking this way, let's go! You go out that way-I'll go through here!"

Silently, Leira emerged from the location Reno had indicated. As soon as she stepped into view, Norelliies stepped out of the conference room. "I didn't see you in there…I told everyone that you were like me…hope you don't mind…"

The blonde haired woman from Kalm seemed nothing short of frightened. The love of her life had humiliated leaving her an uncertain child with shattered dreams. "…I wouldn't want to be involved with this…if it weren't…huh…if it weren't for him…"

Leira wrapped her arms around her comrade. "Norry, he's not the man you…or I knew…he's different-I can't explain it…" she rested a gloved hand on her brow as she pondered her own words.

The sound of thunder erupted inside the huge cargo bay as blue uniforms began to crowd just itching for a taste of the action that their brethren was experiencing. Reno took this interruption as a cue and squeezed out from his hiding place. He dusted himself off and replaced his sunglasses.

"You itching for some action, too?" A man's soft muffled voice came from his right.

"Yeah." he muttered, somewhat distracted.

"Me too. I'm just part of the nav team, though. Imagine me-going from monk in training to gun toting navigator guy."

"…Yeah, imagine that." Reno didn't even want to look at the owner of the voice.

A gentle sound seemed to emanate from the stranger's face shield suggesting a playful giggle. "At least you got in some playtime. She must be pretty good…heh-heh, you were pretty loud."

Reno's skin became pale and his knees felt weak as he realized who the man was. After glancing at the other's shoulder his head flashed from side to side as he looked for a golden armband. Sure enough, the man that had caught him and Leira previously had returned.

The man laughed heartily and put his hand on the quaking redhead's shoulder. "Is okay, man. I did my best to keep Scarlett at bay. I took her along to show her the weapons bay and so on-damn, hearing you moan and all…tried my damndest to keep my 'purity' if you catch my drift."

Reno imagined that the man was winking at him beneath his helmet. "You, you're THAT guy! Hey…hey, man-I-"

"Hey, its okay. Relax, as I said, I had a hard time keeping Scarlett away. Lucky for you, we're like brothers…but it's been a long time. Lucky for me, I recognized you-can't say the same for you…" The helmet wavered from side to side slowly as Reno became aware he was being studied.

"Uh, yeah…well, thanks…uhm…so, just who-?" His effort to find out the man's identity was forced to wait longer as the ship's doors opened and the gathered troops became like a tidal wave as they began to exit into hell's sulfur laden air.

The man with the gold armband studied the ends of the dimly lit ship through the wave of bodies and turned back to Reno. "We must have begun landing proceedings. That's my queue to head back to the bridge. Catch you later flame head." With that, the odd man waved and began to vanish as he walked into the crowd.

Reno stood in place for a couple seconds, before deciding to catch up with Leira. "Flame head…"

"FACE MASKS-FACE MASKS, PEOPLE!" Bellowed the gruff throaty voice of one of Leira's superiors. In the brief seconds that it took to adjust the visor of her helmet, she was able to spot Jody. He paid her no mind; his main concern was getting everyone out and aiding the ones that had been fighting the blaze for almost a day. When there was space available Mymians had vanished into the flood. It was clear that he was more then willing to jump into the unknown-his life had ended one year ago with the divorce from his wife.

Someone bumped against her and reminded her of where she was, just moments away from greeting the inferno.

The front of Norelliies' helmet trained on Leira's face. In her hands was Leira's AK-47. "I still don't know why you carry this piece of slag with you, but as long as it's effective-you're going to need it out there. There are a couple stragglers out there killing our guys. My orders are to relieve the Costa out there and send him back to the med unit for rest and debriefing. You are supposed to aid the rest of the Turks and find those survivors-you got me?"

Leira nodded and raised her right fist in acknowledgement.

"Good girl! We be out!" Norelliies grabbed the girl's shoulder and hauled her out into the fray.

Once outside Leira had immediately wished she were back inside. She was forced to loosen her over armor because of the heat. Sweat was building beneath her hairline and she could almost taste the stench of the mix of burning flesh and wood.

A wave of armored fighters, both SOLDIERs and non-SOLDIERs engulfed her and quickly dragged her along into the burning town. If she moved against the tide, the threat of personal injury would soon become a reality whether she reached the interior of Nibelheim or not. There were already several trampled bodies threatening to trip her up. Luckily, the bodies of the fallen seemed to be no one she knew-or could remember.

Once inside the gates, the scene became far worse then any war zone she had ever encountered. No wonder the ice materia users were failing so badly. All the hours spent on conjuring up spells obviously taxed the limits of the human mind. No one seemed able to concentrate enough to be heard by the greater spirits. The goddess of the winter storm, Shiva, had clearly given up and decided to ignore the ones who could no longer speak.

Amidst the hurly burly was one man who continued to shout orders at the top of his lungs and motivate the forlorn masses.

"Yang-Shan, Hoidai, Loot, keep chanting-don't let the fire hit the mansion! YOU GUYS, OVER AT THE FRONT-THERE'S THAT DAMN KARATE GUY, AGAIN! TOAST HIS ASS!" The man waved a muscular right arm and revealed a gold armband with a picture in the center. The young Elite remembered the band the other man, in the cargo bay of the Highwind, wore on the same arm. That must have been the guy Norelliies was supposed to be looking for. A heavy body brushed against her and knocked her to the ground as she stood trying to pinpoint her commander's special TE armband. She pushed herself back to her feet and did not let the action upset her. This was a place of utter chaos and fear-the way things were looking; getting pushed around was the least of her worries.

"FUCKING BLOODY HELL, BITCH, GET THE FUCK OUT OF THE WAY!" a voice exploded into her ears.

Leira was torn between looking for the person yelling and finding out what she should 'get out of the way' for.

The sound of splintering wood and the crackle of a fresh blaze above her dictated that she choose the latter option.

It was too late.

"O-oh NO!" Leira raised her arms to try to protect herself. She knew this action would not save her. Damn her for being nothing more then a frightened girl with a bigger mouth then guts. "AAAAAAAGH!"

"OOOF!" It was as if she were in a dream. The area around her went white and a large forearm floated past her face. The yellow armband was the flag of Costa del Sol. How odd that she be seeing it in the emptiness of the sterile dream world. There was no one else there with the exception of herself and the loud SOLDIER trapped in time. No falling objects, no pain, no screaming, no death, no fire-all seemed quiet and somehow "perfect."

The man's shoulder found her middle and knocked her out of the path of the falling beam.

She landed on her right arm, crying out in pain and gasping as air rushed from her lungs. Her savior was still stuck in that white void. The scene was so dramatic it was hard for her to accept that the sight playing out above her only lasted several milliseconds.

The Costa del Sol warrior chanted so calmly as he touched the green materia in his bracelet. It was so much like the song of an angel; or what she had imagined an angel's voice would sound like.

He did not seem to care that he was slowly falling and that the heavy beam was going to crush him.

The man's whole body, wrapped in dirty blue, black and silver, conveyed an illusion of swimming. One arm was out in front of his face shield and the other had abandoned its spot on his wrist and was traveling outwards to the far left. Leira was in awe of his ballet-like movements. His body moved in a half twist as thousands of shards of ice-encrusted wood dispersed through the air, surrounding him. She guessed that the sharp glistening objects were the remnants of the beam that threatened to end her young life just a short while ago.

The image of the large man dressed in heavily scorched armor floating sideways through the air had been poetry in motion, until he shouted at her and broke her reverie.

"GODDAMMIT, YOU FILTHY SLUT RUN!" The SOLDIER spoke so quickly; Leira almost missed the foreign accent in his voice.

The ice daggers sliced through the air around them; several had struck her reluctant hero. Trickles of blood opened as the razor like bits sliced his dark ash covered skin.

He landed on top of her and the threat of his sudden hefty weight just about knocked her unconscious. In an instant, the man was able to jump up to his feet and grab Leira's left wrist.

She watched the man's ash covered lips part and reveal his white teeth beneath the bottom of his chrome half mask. The SOLDIER First Class face shield was designed to expose the lower areas of the wearer's face- the mouth, the lips, the chin…although not even the designers really knew why. "You're just a pansy Elite?! Now, that explains _everything_!" The more he yelled coupled with his rising rage made his accent more apparent. "What is it with you people?! WE _have_ this place under control!"

The SOLDIER raised an arm as if he was about to strike her if she so much as tried to get to her feet.

"Oh yeah?!" Leira belched. She jumped to her feet and got in his face. "You have everything under control, huh? Then 'WHAT THE BLOODY FUCK' was that about? You almost got yourself crushed-don't you know anything about Shinra code or are you just another glory seeking SOLDIER, fathead? I could have handled that myself but you had to go ahead and almost kill me…not too mention bleed on me! You abandoned your position because you thought I needed help-this is not a rescue mission this is a battle my-whatever you are-friend!"

The SOLDIER's fists clenched and his left hand sailed into her helmet, knocking her back to the ground. He reached in with his right hand and lifted her head off the ground by the collar of her uniform. "You know what? YOU almost got me killed! I didn't have to save your stupid sorry ass! I did because I couldn't stand to see 'a head up his ass Elite' get wiped out in such a stupid way!" The angry man turned his back to her as he tried to resist hitting her again. "For your information, I happen to be from Wutai! How does that grab you, you dick?"

"For your information, I'm a woman!" Leira ripped off her helmet and threw it to the ground as hard as she could. "That and I outrank you!"

"Pfeh!" The man lazily waved a hand at her. "That and fifty cents will get you a coffee!" The SOLDIER was beginning to tire of her and began scanning the area looking for something else to do; the land around them was burning after all.

Reno reflexively straightened his pants, and tucked one shirttail in when the pilot who had first interrupted his quality time with Leira ran down the gangplank, and pushed him to the side.

Norelliies was dead on his heels. Amidst the rush of SOLDIERs, her voice belted out commands and beckoned for the temporary head of the Nibelheim "rescue" effort.

Tseng followed behind a small herd of officers with a clipboard in hand and a pen at the ready. Attached to clipboard were the names of all Nibelheim's residents. It was his job to make sure every man woman and child in Nibelheim was dead.

"I'm not getting any responses here, people! Who was in charge?" The Elite head had such a demanding voice, Leira was not sure if that was the same Norelliies she knew.

"C'mon, guy, man up!" The pilot shouted as he trotted along beside her.

"Wait, you know who's in charge here?!"

"Well, yeah…he's kind of my…" before he finished his sentence the tall SOLDIER with the oblong helmet pivoted away from Leira and shouted. "You people are eyesores! Get that damn hunk of junk airship out of here! This is my dominion-I'm in charge!"

"Well, he's not full of himself is he?" Leira whispered to Reno as he bumped against her arm to let her know he was beside her.

Reno rubbed at the side of his head. "He seems familiar, somehow…"

Leira became even more enraged and was about to attack the First Class when she caught a glimpse of Norelliies heading in their direction. If anyone could break them up and teach him a lesson, her commander could.

Norelliies opened up her outermost armor and removed a small golden badge. "I'll take it from here. What's going on?" Neidlictzech calmly asked. "You know better then to pick a fight with an Elite, big man." She waggled a finger in front of the SOLDIER's face.

"You her owner? Good you can take her back for her shots now and leave the clean-up to the real men…" The annoyed man turned away from the two women so that the sharp blue half circle that made up the back of his helmet was facing them.

"Excuse me!" Norelliies could not believe her ears. "Just because we are women doesn't mean we can't handle the situation! If I remember correctly, we are here in force to relieve you and all the others because you are simply doing no good to yourselves or this place. You're tired and you need to rest."

The man kept a hidden smile and covered by watching blood drip from the exposed skin of his left forearm. He put a gloved hand to the liquid and pushed it around with his pointer finger making a medium sized circle, just before putting it to his lips and licking it off.

The head Elite raised an eyebrow and shook her head. "You know what, you aren't paying a damn bit of attention to me are you?"

The rude SOLDIER raised his head and turned to look at her. "You know what, buddy, I have better things to do with my time. I've got men I have to take care of and a reactor to sweep."

The flames shot hundreds of feet above the burning buildings. The thick black smoke blanketed the ruined village with its stench making conventional breathing and sight almost impossible.

Norelliies strode up to the SOLDIER. "I'm assuming command of this mission now. You are dismissed First Class Timal Klefmon. Thank you for your help."

Timal glanced at Leira. "I am not hearing this."

"I'm sorry?" The Elite commander was baffled. "I didn't stutter."

He crossed his arms and looked down upon her through his thin chrome visor. "I was put in charge here, Miss Elite. I think it's time you went on your merry little way and helped put out those flames."

The blonde woman clenched her fists. She could have sworn that she was dealing with a teenager. "I was given orders by the Higher Ups! I was told that I was supposed to relieve you. YOU were supposed to go the reactor and ensure its progression before we ever got here."

The man's split helmet may have covered his eyes but his mouth and its wide smile were obvious. "You know what you are?"

"What?! I don't have time for question answer games!"

The SOLDIER waved a black-gloved hand at her loosely. "Face it, you're a Frishie."

Norelliies stepped back. Beneath her helmet, her features were beginning to burn in an inferno of hatred. She had never been called such a deplorable word in her life. "A _Frishie_, am I?!" her anger caused her to let out a high-pitched squeal.

The SOLDIER went back to crossing his arms. "Yes."

This was more than the young woman could stand. She tore off her top layer of body armor and ripped her helmet off.

"Yes. You are." He continued as he dodged her airborne helmet. A throaty chuckle erupted from the man as the angered Elite head stomped over to him and tried to stand on her toes to get eye level with him.

"_You're_ the one from Wutai, buddy! Frishies were _your_ ancestors!" She stuck out a finger and pressed it to his visor.

Leira stood alone in shock at the sight unveiling before her very eyes. She figured that her superior must have been given every detail on what to expect for this mission people, places, things, everything. Suddenly, it all began to come together for her. No wonder the man's accent seemed odd he was a native of Wutai…but what was a "Frishie?"

First Class SOLDIER Timal Klefmon removed his own helmet and let it drop to the ground. It had become clear that Norelliies had offended him. Leira stepped back in shock as she gazed at his visage. His prepossessing face was thin but seemingly smooth and effeminate. His narrowed eyes emitted the typically cold glow that was traditional of SOLDIERs. "I'll show you who the Frishie is, you fucking trollop!"

Next thing anyone knew, Reno and the pilot arrived. "Timal, I've been looking all over for you." The two said in unintentional unison.

Reno regarded the man beside him with a quiet awe. "You again…" he finally spoke.

The stranger nodded and approached Klefmon. "Don't you have anything else to do rather then start fights, cousin? You're wounded and obviously tired." He said as he too removed his own helmet.

Reno's jaw dropped, as he was able to view the faces of both uniformed Shinra.

"Benton, you don't know how good it is to see you!" The SOLDIER smiled and wrapped his arms around his cousin. While they embraced, Timal brought his face closer to the other's and planted a passionate kiss on his lips.

Everyone but the two armored men was in shock-everyone but Reno. "Wow! Benton, I didn't think you'd be here but look at you!"

Benton broke the kiss and regarded Reno with a shit-eating grin. "See, you didn't know who I was with the mask on after all!" He got up close to his red headed friend and shared a quick embrace.

"Ahem," Norelliies grunted, "This changes nothing! We aren't here for a happy fest-we've got work to do!"


	15. On Location Part 2 Gran Turismo

"Sir," came a voice from inside the Costa SOLDIER's non-la. Timal stopped and regarded the hardwired com-link in his helmet, "we have a situation at the reactor," the bulletin continued but said no more.

"Hmmm…" was the SOLDIER's only reply. He turned to the small group and nodded.

The First Class could feel himself warm a bit between his thighs. His cousin, Reno and two sexy women…sexy men and women were all he needed to ensure an evening filled with yanking and stickiness.

"Timal! No fantasizing!" A slap from his cousin, Benton, made sure his mind was where it should be.

The SOLDIER shook off his thoughts of naughtiness and slowly encompassed real reality. "The village is burning," he whispered to himself and put his closed left fist to his chin, "and the rector problem needs to be addressed."

"Yeah!" Norelliies barked recovering her helmet and put a hand to her hip.

"I'm getting to that-I'm getting to that!" The man turned to Leira and put his helmet back on. "You are an Elite, thusly," he said in a nasty tone, "You'll be coming with me." He focused on everyone within earshot and bellowed, "Well, kiddies, it's been swell but she and I have a date!" With a mighty lunge, he grabbed Leira by the wrist and strung her along behind him.

"What's he doing?!" Norelliies gasped as Reno tried to run after them.

"Is okay," smiled the pilot as he pushed up his sleeves, "He's not the type to really hurt anyone…unless they want to be."

The Wutaian SOLDIER led Leira to a large black and gold Mako powered motorcycle. The bike had two large wheels with deep treads for maximum traction. The front, back and sides of the Shinra vehicle had bulletproof scoops to protect the rider and passenger's legs from road hazards and enemies.

"You and me, babe." Timal said as he released her.

Leira felt uneasy as she watched him give her thumbs up before sliding a leg over the padded leather seat of the bike. Reluctantly, she put her helmet back on and got on behind him. She wrapped her arms loosely around his waist as he jumped the accelerator.

"Wait, Timmy! That's my chick!" Reno hollered and was greeted by a cloud of dust as the motorcycle sped off toward Mount Nibel.

"Reno," Tseng hollered from somewhere off in the distance, "Will you get in!"

The Turk turned just in time to get out of the way. A sleek black luxury class sedan swung out in front of him spewing even more dust and debris his way. As Reno put his arms up to protect himself, the driver's side door flew open and Rude hopped over the counsel compartment so that Reno could drive; it was his car after all.

As was the trend, Tseng sat in the back. He flicked a switch on the center armrest and put the bulletproof window back up. "Let's get moving; we've got a reactor to secure!"

"Why did you have to bring my car?" Reno whined as he buckled in.

Timal and Leira were already miles ahead and were just about up to the mountain's base. "So, you ever been to the wondrous Nibelheim?"

Leira looked at the back of the SOLDIER's helmet. "Not that I can remember," she yelled in response over the loud engine, "Why?"

"Oh. No big."

"Can I ask _why_?"

The SOLDIER gave a concealed shrug for he himself wasn't even sure why he asked. He had only been in the burning town for a couple days and had never set foot in it before the blaze, on his own.

Most of the trip was made in silence and it bothered Leira to a degree. She could do nothing but watch dust and dirt disperse as the motorcycle powered through ripping and grinding the soil beneath its deep black tire treads. Every so often, she would see a group of giant native bugs watch their ascent then later run from the noise. _If it weren't for the roar of the engine and our speed_, she figured, _you'd be on us like stink on shit_.

"So what's the big plan? What are we doing?" Leira pressed to make some kind of small talk.

"The boys up the hill are having problems," came the flat reply then nothing but more silence.

Leira was at a loss for words. She didn't have anything against this man and was trying her hardest to make it up to him for their altercation back in the village.

The Shinra motorcycle wavered a bit and she felt the driver tense suddenly. "Oi, that's not good," he stated totally devoid of emotion.

From out of nowhere, a huge black bird had appeared causing hazardous gusts of wind with its great flapping wings.

"What is it?!" Leira shrieked and rocked the bike even more making it even harder to control.

"Stop, STOP THAT!" Timal lost control and the motorbike hit a rock causing the two to topple off and into the unfinished road.

The Elite flew off sideways, plowing a track into some loose gray soil while the SOLDIER was sent off backwards through the air. He landed on his back nearly missing an assortment of sharp gigantic boulders.

The massive winged beast darted in closer to Timal, prepping for an attack. Leira jumped to her feet and set about trying to determine which materia she should use to frighten or kill the monster. Timal, on the other hand backed himself against one of the rocks and tried to figure a way out of his impending demise. He too thought about materia use. "Frigging Zu!" he yelled at the creature as if it were a disobedient pet. The hungry bird grabbed at his arm and body tearing away bits of his armor with each swoop. The SOLDIER needed some sort of distraction, something to cause the bird to back away and let him plan. Running on pure instinct, he reached up, yanked off his helmet, and threw it at the creature suspended above him. Being trained to deal with creatures and other human beings was simple in a controlled situation or in a simulation but out in the real world, he quickly realized how seemingly easy tasks could go awry.

Leira touched a green gem on her materia bracelet and began to recite a fire spell. In an instant, a small flash of flame appeared just above the SOLDIER's head and ignited the demonic bird. Timal tried his best to slink down and roll out of the way but it became near impossible, as the Zu was getting lower and lower still entangled in the flames; it squawked and snapped its bright orange beak as rage began to overtake it.

After holding back a small degree of fear, he got to his knees and finally crawled out of the way. When he felt like he was far enough away, he approached the crashed motorcycle and grabbed for his sidearm in the saddlebag compartment.

Leira ran to the SOLDIER while casting round after round of fire. "BURN, BURN BURN!" she bellowed before each flare. Her reluctant partner cleared out the loaded pistol and checked the tiny materia he had imbedded in the plastic grip. "Bio, fire, and ice," he recited as he pulled the trigger repeatedly until an entire magazine emptied into his attacker. The occasional ribbon of flame snaked down from the Zu's body and licked at the poor SOLDIER scorching more of his own body and armor. Clearly, the weakened Zu's late night snack was not too keen on being eaten so it decided to leave it alone and flew off to recover.

Leira dropped to her knees in exhaustion; her fellow Shinra operative placed his hands on the ground then puked up his lunch. The harrowing ordeal had proven to be too much for the poor man as he wearily forced himself to his feet.

Both of them were pale and shaken by the time the black Shinra motors Hightime found them.

Reno leapt out and grabbed his lover smothering her in a bear hug. "I saw the pissed off birdy pass us and figured you guys had something to do with it!"

Tseng and Rude exited the car, Rude to the motorcycle to survey damage and Tseng to the SOLDIER.

The balding Turk took a calculator out of his blazer pocket and began to type in figures. He looked over at the dazed SOLDIER then at the man's flambéed helmet and typed in even more numbers.

Tseng knelt beside his fellow Wutaian and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You going to make it?" he asked calmly in their shared language.

The SOLDIER gave a slight nod and winced as he heard Rude tapping away. "What the?! What is he doing? Go away! Get away!"

Leira took the chance to review the SOLDIER First Class' face. Other then looking a tad displeased his features were still captivating to her. His eyes emitted that same icy blue glow but there was something different…something she could not put her finger on was it his snapping out of fear?

Timal felt her eyes on him and turned his head to shoot her a disgusted look before then was up on his feet and in the unsuspecting Rude's face. "The bike still works you frigging vultures! Gods, Reno, I swear you and your ilk are worse then that overgrown parrot!"

Reno grimaced at his friend's words and let go of Leira. "Harsh, Timmy, I'm sorry."

"It's not like we expect you to pay for these damages right away." Rude butted in and stuffed the calculator back into his jacket.

Tseng snapped his fingers in an attempt to silence Rude. "It's okay. We'll discuss this all later-save it for the reactor!"

The Turks turned and began to re-enter the car while Timal spat out insult after insult in the Wutaian tongue directed at Tseng who had decided to ignore the angered man.

"Lei, Timmy's no fun when he's like this; you wanna ride?"

Leira stood there between the car and the motorcycle and watched the SOLDIER get on and rev. It was amazing that the thing still worked. "I don't care." The disgruntled man spat.

"I'm going to go with him, for now, Wren! We'll meet you at the reactor."

Reno blinked and studied the faces of his fellow Turks as he closed his door. "Sometimes I think she's crazier then you are." Tseng stated raising an eyebrow.

The motorcycle's roar was uneven as Leira took her position behind the helmet-less Timal.

Off they went motorcycle in the lead.

"Thanks…" came the SOLDIERs voice.

Leira choked back her surprise and smiled. "I didn't do anything special."

Mile after mile was covered and the summit of the mountain still seemed so far away. Leira wondered how long it had taken Sephiroth and his troop to make it up and down so quickly, could the hulking mobile transport unit be that much quicker then a motorcycle or a five hundred and ten horsepower luxury car. From time to time Reno's Hightime would pull up alongside them to check on their well-being and help ward off any other Zu attacks.

Beneath her, Leira felt the wounded contraption slow and finally stop. "What's wrong?" she asked as the sedan pulled up along the right side one last time. Reno put the window down and slapped the metal of the driver's side door in anger. "What's up, Timmy? Time's a wastin'!"

The SOLDIER put one foot down and twisted to glare at his friend. He sternly pointed out over a vast chasm and then at two petrified wooden posts. "The bridge, my friends, is out. How you do think you're going to make it, now?"

No one paid his words any mind. Choruses of "we're stuck" and the obligatory "now what" passed along from man to man in the luxury vehicle.

Timal got off the bike and approached the car. He bent and placed his folded arms on the base of the window frame and listened to each person's gripes before finally shaking his head. To mess with his redheaded friend he leaned in and licked the side of his face from chin to temple. Reno face contorted and he stuck his tongue out in disgust. "Ew, Timmy!"

"I thought I saw a turn off that might take us there…might be kind of indirect and put us out of our way but I think it's doable." Rude spoke up.

"Are we agreed, then?" Tseng asked.

"Uh, you gentlemen didn't hear what I said," the man turned his head to look at Tseng in the backseat then Rude and Reno up front and smiled, "I asked you how _you _planned to get to the top. Me and the chick are going straight on."

"What?!" came the unanimous response of shock.

Timal banged the door panel with his closed fists and headed back to the motorcycle where Leira stood mystified.

"Wait, Timmy come back here-you don't mean it!" Reno hollered.

Leira watched as the SOLDIER approached her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "What did you tell them? What did they want?"

The man in the blue body armor turned to her and smiled; flashed thumbs up. "'S okay, we're going to the reactor and they'll catch up later."

He got back on the battered bike leaving her no other real option then to follow him.


	16. On Location Part 3 The Call Of Duty

For all that was going on above, the Shinra still located in Nibelheim were having their fair share of stress as well. The fire that raged was far from ordinary. While it was entertaining to postulate Sephiroth kneeling at the foot of each house in the small village lighting match after match, the same theory became more and more unlikely. The time that the flames spent chewing away the town's identity and the speed at which it spread suggested some form of materia use. As the Turk Elite higher up passed through the town casting random spells of Ice 3, she happened upon a small group of Shinra executives, standing in an ice bubble, discussing the same matter she had been theorizing. She crept up to an adjoining house located behind their shelter and listened in on their conversation some more.

Scarlet pulled her flame retardant jacket tighter around her neck to cover her large cleavage. "It's just not right that everyone out there gets warm and we have to freeze in this thing!"

Her associate, Heidegger, let a horse like whinny escape his throat. "What, you want to help? With the possibility of a summon monster roaming around; I am sure we're safest here!"

The lead scientist in Shinra, Hojo, was on his knees to busy to his bickering co-workers any mind. He was on his knees facing away from the two frantically typing in data on a small lap top computer set on two huge green bags of materia. "Ifrit, Ifrit," he mumbled. Yes, Sephiroth went truly insane in resorting to that creature."

"Ifrit?!" The Elite squeaked. _A summon creature on the loose?!_ A large piece of roofing slid down from a nearby house and shocked Norelliies into abandoning her train off thought. She quickly reached for her Shinra Beta armband with all its materia but began to second-guess herself. She was afraid that the activation prayer would give up her own position while trying to save these bickering people. She knew she was supposed to be in charge of the "relief effort" and was too honest to fib her way out if someone were to confront her.

Scarlet let loose a scream…or was it Hojo? The huge fragments were falling fast and threatened to squash the ice bubble. Heidegger grabbed Scarlet in a bear hug while Hojo set to covering his head with his portable computer. As the people in the transparent igloo began to await a scorching death a "ping" sound drew near. Ping, ping, ping reverberated from the rooftops and suddenly the fiery debris froze in place.

"I knew we'd survive that." Scarlet mused as she punched the large Heidegger in the face knocking him to his knees.

Norelliies Neidlictzech breathed a huge sigh as a familiar figure rounded the corner and approached her. The easily recognizable shape of Jody Mymians came closer and studied her.

"Nor? What are you doing on this end? Aren't you supposed to be with the mansion team?" The man drew nearer and reached out to her as if he would embrace her but thought better of it.

She watched his helmet move from side to side, indicating his displeasure with her location. "I know, Jode. They were talking about materia! Ifrit materia! They think Sephiroth might have summoned Ifrit!"

The lower Elite stepped back from her in horror. "Our Shiva user is up there-and quite frankly, I don't trust him!"

"I know," she tried to reassure him, "in the meantime, let's-"

A familiar beeping rung in Norelliies' helmet and her sentence dropped. "To all team leaders in charge of town security, this is Hojo; I have a list of people you are to contain. I am feeding you the data, now."

Mymians watched as his superior's visor lit up in a cool blue light. As the woman watched her new set of orders download, the former second class thought it best to return to his current assignment. He had only gotten a few feet before Norelliies tapped him on the shoulder and pointed to one of the burning houses. "I got a report there are people still inside," she said, "The list Hojo forwarded us confirms it!"

SOLDIER Second Class turned Turk Elite Jody Mymians knew his superior well enough to know that she was choosing her words carefully.

"Norry," he said with genuine concern, "…something wrong?"

He watched her helmet turn from him to some point way off to the left then to the dirt under their feet.

"I can't leave, one of the Wutaian del Sol reported a photographer snapping pictures…I've got to stay…I'll catch up." She patted him on the shoulder again and walked back into the heart of the burning town.

Mymians shook his head and reluctantly traveled in the direction of the house. The structure, he could tell, had been a family home. It was two stories tall with shutters and little flower boxes under each window. A little bridge over a tiny brook added more to its homey appeal.

Jody's inattentiveness was interrupted by the sounds of a female screaming. The cries for help, he pinpointed, were from inside the residence just as Norelliies had relayed.

The ex-SOLDIER stopped a couple paces from the front of the house and methodically listened to the woman's cries for someone to save her-or was it them?

"No survivors, Jode." The man coldly muttered as a means to coax himself onward.

The main door was completely ablaze but it was not enough to stop one of the Turk Elites. He raised a massive leg and slammed his foot into the door. For extra strength, he leaned in with his left shoulder and used his body as a battering ram.

The trapped female was huddled at the bottom of a staircase crying and pointing. She looked up to see the Shinra in blue push his way through the front door. The poor woman was scorched and dirty; it amazed Jody the burns littering her skin did not paralyze her from pain.

The woman rose and ran to him in desperation as she dodged several tiny independent flames. He shifted ground as her body slammed into his. She beat her hands against his chest plate: black sooty tears pouring from her eyes. "Thank you for coming, thank you!" He could tell that she was terribly frightened. The words she repeated came fast and jumbled. "Thank you, they're upstairs! Thank you!"

Jody's helmet trained on her for a heartbeat then focused on the stairs where he first perceived her. "Who's upstairs?" he asked in a tone devoid of any emotion.

The frantic woman paid him no mind and repeated, "Please, bring them to me! Save them!"

No one knows exactly what brought on the horrendous event that was to come but afterwards, no one ever cared to question; Jody Mymians became a man possessed. Who would have thought one simple action would be enough to break a far from ordinary man.

The woman grabbed Mymians in a strong yet frenzied embrace. Her chin dug into his armor as she stared up into the tarnished chrome of his visor; it was at that point that the former second class snapped. Her arms wrapped around him were enough to cause him to look down; all that was visible was Cheris. His ex-wife's gentle face and soft curly red hair replaced the worn dirty features of the Nibelheim woman.

Beneath the flat exterior of his Shinra issue helmet, Jody's eyes began to tear. His heart beat faster and he screamed out in a terrible mixture of rage and pain. As his words were unrecognizable, the Nibelheim female was less then worried as to what he was saying. Her focus was more to the cause of what could have been happening to the man she had, only mere seconds ago, pictured as a savior.

Jody roared again, his sanity had broken triggering his right arm to snake around the woman's neck and twist her around to face the same direction as he was. The side of her face held firm in the bend of his elbow forced her to panic even more. She thrashed her body around making Jody drop his assault rifle. She could not have chosen a more wrong idea. The man's arm slid back from its original position and tightened around her throat cutting off oxygen and bending her back at an almost inhuman angle. The woman gasped and sputtered as he fished around for a new weapon.

The sound of black leather gloves pushing along the loose fabric of his pants was lost in the fire's crackle but not to the victim. Again, she continued her struggle but this action did little more then speed up Jody's search. His left hand patted and slapped until he found it; the one object that would begin his steady descent further into insanity, his switchblade.

With a simple flick of the wrist, the seemingly useless rubber handle in his pocket birthed a wickedly sharp six-inch blade.

"Stop…stop," he tried to say in a quiet voice but the woman's struggles made him forget just whom he was telling to stop. "STOOOOOOOP!" Her stomach arched forward and her head bent in the opposite direction as Jody's weapon drew nearer

If he had directed his own words toward himself there was to be no end for anyone. The poor girl's body bucked once more and then for the last time. Her time of death was uncertain as it was unclear whether the snap of her neck came first or the sharp swift blade of Jody's knife plunging into her jugular.

A grotesque gurgle escaped and a mild "splish" of blood drenched his knife-baring arm. He began to breathe heavily as her struggle was muted. He imagined that her eyes were blank or upturned like he saw in horror movies; containing no sign of life. Such a shame she was facing forward the entire time, gazing at the stairs that led to her companions.

Jody had regressed into an almost primal state of mind as he ignobly allowed the corpse to slide from its place between his elbow and side and fall to the floor in a blackened heap. His breathing was harsh and ragged but the drive to meet the survivors on the next burning floor kept his adrenaline high.

Amidst the pop and sizzle of the fire-engulfed structure, a strange screech caught his attention throwing him back into a perverse state of duty.

"Mamma!" came a sharp high-pitched scream. "Mamma!" Another quickly accompanied the first. "Save us! Help us!"

"Mamma?" Jody repeated, losing his previously heartless tone. "MAMMA?!" He ran to the foot of the staircase and stared upwards. No one had told him about children. Did Norelliies know about children all along?

The ceiling above the stairs buckled and a huge piece of timber fell down, smashing into the stairs. Jody shielded his eyes with his bloodstained sleeve as embers splashed everywhere. The wood acted as an omen for him that he chose to defy. He counted his blessings that Shinra valued its employees enough to put together clumsy and insanely heavy equipment and uniforms that were fire retardant.

Mixtures of screaming and crying urged Jody up the collapsing stairwell. He prayed that the children were in their death throes and burnt to ash by the time he made it to the top of the stairs.

"Cloud! Zack! SOLDIER! YAY!"

"Crowd, Sass, showder! YAY"


	17. Leap Of Faith

_crawling in my skin  
these wounds they will not heal  
fear is how I fall  
confusing what is real _- Crawling by Linkin Park

Tears streamed from his eyes only to gather in the dampened collar of his shirt. _Why children?! Why didn't she tell me?!_

Carefully, Jody navigated the pitted flaming staircase. He fought a hard battle in his mind, deciding whether he should just leave them to their fate by fire or follow through with his orders. "They're just children! They're innocent!"

Two figures darted to the top of the stairs. A little girl no older then ten and a small boy possibly six motioned for him.

The ex-SOLDIER never bothered to reclaim his semi-automatic firearm from the lower floor. Knife clenched tightly in hand, still stained with the mother's blood, he slunk onwards. This was something he did not want to do. The questions concerning the life and death of the children twisted and distorted as he realized that it was a matter of him living and killing them or dying along with them in the fire or by Shinra firing squad.

He crept onwards up the stairs, legs feeling heavier and heavier. His right hand glided

along the wall for support in case the steps beneath his feet buckled any further.

"Shinra!" The little girl cried.

"Chinra!" The little boy tried to mimic his sister.

Both children tried to cheer on their savior until the little girl noticed the blood-spattered sleeves of the Turk Elite and the knife clenched tightly in his left gloved hand as he drew near.

"No!" She screamed and grabbed her brother by the shoulders pulling him away from the stairs. Desperately, the child tried to find a place to hide herself and her younger sibling while an escape plan was fleshed out. Since their home was slowly burning to the ground and far from safe, the smoke made her dizzy and unable to think clearly. She perceived her little study area and stowed her brother in the small space between her chair and desk. The only place she could think of large enough to hide was behind the large pea soup green easy chair situated between the landing and the desk.

The Elite finally reached the top and pressed his body against the entryway frame of the upstairs room. His heart sank a bit more when he spied the back of the girl's head poking out from the side of the tall cushioned chair. As quietly as he could, Jody set his heels to prevent his boots from creating any sound. He slowly reached out with his right hand in preparation to pull the chair away and slash the girl with the switchblade in his left.

"Sis! There!" The boy successfully stunned the Elite with his outburst and alerted his older sister.

Patrolling the flaming streets, Norelliies found herself by the remains of Nibelheim's only Inn. A body was sprawled and burnt beyond recognition. The only thing that could indicate any form of identification was a melted camera. The head of the Elites took her M-16 and prodded at the eight-millimeter camera around the corpse's neck like a poker pushing away ash in a fireplace. The back of the device was open so she assumed that the film had been ripped out and destroyed by other Shinra agents. While she found herself curious about the contents of the negatives, it was probably for the best that the photographs died with the photographer.

A loud chirp pierced her concentration and she straightened to the new update.

"This is Hojo, speaking to you with my voice!" Norelliies rolled her eyes and waited for the message to continue. "I have new orders for all officers! I want any survivors found kept alive and sedated. I repeat do not kill any surviving townspeople-I WANT THEM ALIVE! I am sending a new list that I have put together from intelligence and your confirmation reports! Any of you who go against these orders will be dealt with most severely."

Norelliies lifted her weapon and slung its lanyard over her shoulder, while she watched the text scroll through the LED display built into her visor. "Huh?!" She froze and put a hand to the chin of her mask. Her arms dropped and she shot a glance over to the location she sent Jody. "Oh, Jody! No, _JODY!_"

In the time Jody spent contemplating his next move; the elder sibling flopped on her stomach and grabbed the legs of the small wooden chair fruitlessly hiding the boy. The rubber soles of her shoes slapped against the blackened, burning floor as she pushed herself to stand. Her intent was to knock the man away from their primary escape path and hopefully wound him-neither happened as she flung the tiny piece of furniture. It haplessly sailed passed Jody, slammed into the trim decorating the outside of the staircase and harmlessly struck the floorboards.

As a means to convey his displeasure, Jody lifted his large left foot and crushed the chair underneath his weight. Picking up where he left off, he continued to stalk the children. The fire raged closer and bathed the Elite in a horrific mixture of dark shadows and varied colors.

The young female was stunned. Torn between finding something else to throw or do her best to grab her brother and run, she took no action to avoid a direct assault. Jody raised his knife arm so that it was to his front; primed to slash. He jolted forward delivering a hard elbow to her face. Right on contact he slammed her back several feet into a wall not noticing the white steam spewing from a black-knotted ripple. The girl bounced and landed on her stomach; arms and legs spread like a discarded rag doll. The little boy ran to the side of his sister prodding her to move. By this time the Elite was almost upon him. "Ah!" The sound of heavy breathing interrupted his attempts at waking his sister. With a tinge of acceptance, he looked straight up.

The singed form of the Elite loomed above him. Without a moment's hesitation, Jody's hand shot out and grabbed him by the base of his chin, wrenching him to his feet; knife point creeping along his shoulder.

"Yui! Yui!" the boy cried and lashed out with his arms. "YUI!"

"_Yui?!" _So many thoughts arose and the Shinra agent could not control them all. Memories of family, memories of his wife, memories of his children, memories of Yui, his youngest daughter; the torrent of emotions was enough to drop Jody to his knees. He crashed to the ground, fists banging against the floor. For a brief moment he studied the still form of the little girl; it was clearly not his daughter but the name alone was enough to jolt him from his primitive rage. The Elite doubled over shaking as tears poured from his eyes and down his concealed face. His arms wrapped around his middle while shaky fingers wove their way through multilayered armor to clench at his sides.

At first, the child figured he was responsible for felling his attacker. Once he was able to recognize the telltale sound of sobbing, he shifted his concern to the emotional stability of the man on the floor. He gulped as hot steam spewed forth from the walls as the flames dissipated. In an attempt at forgiveness, the child placed a hand on Jody's shoulder and shook his head. "Mithter! Hey, Mithter!" he yelled with a lisp. "I'm shorry! I didn't mean to hurt you! You okay?! Look! The fire ith dying!"

Jody stayed in his crumpled heap for several seconds more then looked up. Sure enough, the flames were backing down. He would have breathed in a sigh of relief had it not been for the yelling stemming from the foot of the stairs.

"Anyone here? Hello, hello! Anyone here!" shouted a gruff masculine voice.

"You sure the chick got it right?" A voice filled with sarcasm replied.

Jody, still on his knees, craned his head to study the little girl's unmoving frame; she was breathing. He swallowed hard as the boy became his focus. His head tilted up and the boy tore his hand away unaware of the man's intentions. Quickly, the boy clambered to his sister and placed her head in his hands.

The house fire was extinguished and, Jody guessed, the rest of the town as well. Sounds of footsteps traversing the stairs absorbed his full attention. A quiet prayer slowly drifted through the room putting the children under a sleep spell.

"Sleepel?" Jody sniffled as the boy toppled like a tree and landed; propped up against his shoulder. Carefully, so as not to break the spell, Jody embraced the child and nuzzled the face of his helmet against his neck preventing him from crashing to the ground.

It was only a matter of time before-

"Back away from the boy, sir!"

"Mymians, Jody. SOLDIER Second Cla-I mean Turk Elite-" Jody stuttered as he let go with his left hand to raise it high above his head.

"We know who you are."

Jody put his right pointer finger to the side of his helmet and pushed in a button close to his visor. In a flash, the inside display changed into a monitor of sorts providing a three hundred and sixty degree heads up display. He tweaked the settings until he was able to see the SOLDIERs behind him clearly. Suddenly, he felt inferior. Brown ankle high wingtip boots, dark blue baggy pants, blue sleeveless turtlenecks, large non-la helmets; all of the men were decorated First Class. If he had known his marriage were to end the way it did-

Meanwhile, far above Nibelheim, Timal steered the motorcycle back around the car to head in the opposite direction. "Hold onto me." He said warningly, and somewhat softly, to Leira.

She breathed in and wrapped her arms tightly around his waist, pushing the side of her face into his back; she envisioned holding Reno instead of some uppity SOLDIER from Wutai.

Reno and the others stared as the two roared passed them and eventually vanished from the rear and side view mirrors.

"What do you think that was about?" Reno asked as he bit his thumb and looked at Rude.

The bald man shrugged his shoulders and replied, "It looks like he's running off with your chick."

Tseng huffed and checked his watch. The time they spent idle, they could have easily taken the alternate route Rude had pointed out. As the Turk head was about to share his feelings the loud roar returned and blew passed the Hightime.

"Jeeeeeeeeeezuz christ!" Reno yelped as the black Mako powered motorcycle carrying his best friend and his lover sped by heading straight for the gorge.

"What the hell are they doing?!" Tseng shouted as he pushed himself forward between the front seats and gazed through the windshield.

Reno grasped the steering wheel and sputtered. "Timmy, you survive and get her hurt, I kill you!"

"We just passed the car!" Leira pointed out.

Silence. The SOLDIER's body tightened in concentration as he shut out her comments. He did his best to factor in their combined weight in addition to the weight and velocity of the large motorcycle.

The edge of the cliff drew nearer both parties enveloped in suspense.

Ground, ground, and then no ground. The odd graphite and tan dirt was visible below then it was not; replaced by nothing but continued darkness. Leira held her breath as the sound of rubber whirring through air replaced that of wheels spinning on gravel. It seemed like an eternity as the airborne vehicle glided its way across the huge ravine. All thoughts between Leira and Timal hung suspended between time and space.

The Elite's face frozen in a grimace whereas Timal's was nothing more then a smile as the wind passed through his short hair.

The other side of the ravine approached. Something alerted Timal and his head perked up. Touchdown was imminent but he could tell the landing was not to be a gentle one. "GWAH, _ah_ fuck! **_Son of a bitch_**!" He hollered as the front wheel touched down first and rocked the back end of the motorcycle around to the left. Leira tightened her hold on him as the sudden jolt threatened to rip them apart and toss her to the ground.

BANG!

Timal did his best not to swear but he knew the sound well. The entire suspension system had just gone out and at any moment, the two would be experiencing a very harsh stop.

The back wheel touched down and pushed its way to the right. The Shinra vehicle became hard to steer for the SOLDIER and yet he did not want to give up. _Easy does it, Timal, easy does it! _His hands gripped the stubby handlebars tightly causing sweat to form underneath his full fingered gloves.

Unfortunately, the battle for momentum waged between Mako powered craft and mountainous obstructions would not end favorably. Once the SOLDIER was able to straighten out, the front tire went horizontal and snapped off causing both riders to flip over the front end. Luckily, the vehicle dug itself into the ground and spun out instead of crashing into them. Timal skidded on his back a few feet while Leira crashed into his side.

Both laid out unmoving on the rocky mountain ledge unconscious and prone to attack by Mt. Nibel's local wildlife.


	18. Waking Up

"_She wants me to call her Jenny, cause I can't say her name right." The little girl dressed in her favorite green sweater and pleated red felt skirt happily twirled around and ran up to the man in the white lab coat. "Unca Hojo!" She yelled, grabbing his cold white hands, "Jenny says we're all going ta a party! You, me, mom, and dad! Isn't that great? She says Seph is gonna be there too!"_

"Jenny…" Leira muttered. Slowly and arduously, she pushed herself up on her elbows and looked around. The air felt warm against her skin. _It must be daylight already. _Her assumption may have been correct but her eyes proved otherwise. Curiously, she lifted a finger to poke at her eyelids, studying them open and shut. There was no difference. "Oh, fucking shit!" she screamed. The sad reality came crashing back to her. She remembered riding with the SOLDIER and their turbulent motorcycle landing…and the eventual crash after jumping the chasm. The last image she recalled was falling into a field of blue before the now familiar blackness. She must have been blinded after colliding with the SOLDIER. "AYYYYYYYEW!" Her fists crashed to the ground only to ignite sharp stabbing pains in her chest.

Again and again, she screamed until she thought about the SOLDIER. "I'm going to die here! I'm going to fucking die-" a brief recollection interrupted her unrelenting doubt. _That's right! I'm not alone!_ Leira maneuvered her body to raise herself into a sitting position. "I'm not alone-arrrrgh!" Her movements halted as her legs cried out in protest. A warm liquid sensation denoted the occurrence of blood seeping from deep wounds. Tears ran out her the corner of her eyes as she hoped Mt. Nibel's native wildlife was not hungry. The choice to yell for help or sit tight was a difficult choice. _He can't be too far. _

Grudgingly, she decided to wait. Someone was bound to find her be it friendly or disgruntled villager.

Leira closed her eyes and sighed. There was nothing else to do except hope and pray that she was located on the main road to the reactor.

Time passed so slowly in the darkness of her eyelids she could not decide if mere minutes passed or hours…or even days. Without warning, something rubbed against her left knee. The touch was far from professional as it curiously fumbled from knee to calf to ankle to thigh. She bit her lip due to the pain the petting was causing her.

Like an angry domestic cat, she slapped at the thing until the sound of human groaning forced her to open her eyes. Her vision blurry and not fully recovered, she looked down and was able to make out a bloody black glove. The fingers writhed and quivered, stretching out to gain her attention. She reached out with her hands and did her best to pull his heavy body close to hers.

After several minutes, she was able to support his head neck and shoulders against her lap. Leira looked down at him and placed her hands on his shoulders. Instinctively she pushed his black bangs to the side and out of his face unintentionally triggering a tiny crimson stream of blood to flow from his forehead, down the side of his nose and collect in the small valley of his chin. "I'm…I'm sorry!"

His eyes focused on her. The glow of his Mako enhanced eyes was lacking some of its luster. "Hey, you. You're not looking too good."

The man's lips parted to allow a small croaking noise. He rolled his head from left to right, placing a hand on his chest.

"Don't you dare do what I think you're going to-" With the last word loosed from her lips, his eyes closed and his hand slipped to the ground. Timal Klefmon was dead.

Leira glanced around feverishly, trying to figure out what she could do to revive him. Just over his shoulder, she noticed a dent in the ground filled with the man's blood and scraps of hair.

All common sense left her as she repeatedly slapped him across the face and shook his still, cooling body. "Please! Wake up!"

Leira found herself losing her wits. She attempted three times to cast cure but each time failed. Restore spells and other curative magic were only effective if used on a living target. With all other hope lost, she wrapped her arms around herself and rocked back and forth. For as long as she remembered, this nervous disorder was more of a liability in times of high stress.

A car horn blared and the sound of a familiar engine rumbled closer. Gently tilting her head to the side, Leira was able to make out Reno's luxury car in a cloud of dust. Help had arrived.

Seconds later, the black Hightime stopped and three of the four doors opened. Tseng, Rude and Reno exited while Reno shut his door. "C'mon guys!" He scolded, "You'll drain the battery by leaving the doors open like that!" After realizing his companions were ignoring him, the redheaded Turk shook his head and joined them around Leira and the SOLDIER.

Tseng hovered over Leira and studied Timal's corpse. "How long has he been dead?"

"I don't know…cure doesn't work." Leira answered him.

The Wutaian Turk knelt down and fished through the collar of the dead man's uniform. As uncomfortable as he felt, defiling the man's body he did have a motive. He found what he had been searching for. The man's chrome dog tags glittered in the sunlight. As Tseng read the mini-dossier inscribed in the tiny sheet metal, his narrowed eyes fell upon the two letters that decided the final fate of the Wutaian SOLDIER. "This one's from the Jenova Project." He nonchalantly dropped the tags and twisted his upper body around to face Rude. "Rude, grab me a Phoenix Down. Fast!"

The bald man did as he was bade and went back to the car to rummage through the glove compartment.

Reno swaggered over to his boss and put his hands on Leira's shoulders. "What's up chief?"

Before Tseng could answer. Leira let out a pained cry and dropped her head.

"Christ, Lei! Your legs!" Reno's voice was shrill as he focused on her lower body.

Her pant legs were tattered and caked with blood. It was extremely difficult for either man to tell which gouges were fabric or shredded skin.

"Rude," Reno began to yell, "get us a couple poti-"

The bald headed Turk stuck his head out briefly waiting for Reno to continue. "It's okay," Leira whimpered as her trembling fingers caressed the restore materia in her bracelet. "I can handle this." Tears flowed down her cheeks while she recited the chant to heal herself.

Reno did his best to comfort her, messaging her shoulders and neck. "Good girl, good girl." he coaxed. His eyes fixed on her wounds. It always amazed him to watch injuries reverse themselves after one silly sounding chant. Huge gaping wounds shrunk and closed as flowing blood went from river to trickle, then nothing. The recently escaped blood dried and crusted on its own but would not vanish until she decided to brush it away or wash it off. "There you go." he whispered administering a light kiss to her neck.

Rude returned and knelt beside Tseng. Carefully, Tseng took the tiny glass vile filled with amber colored liquid and popped the cork top.

"So, that's his number, huh? Twenty-nine-" Rude started to say, fully intending to charge the SOLDIER once he regained consciousness.

Reno was about to speak up until Leira beat him to the punch.

"Take it out of my pay-he saved my life." She looked up at her lover and made her best attempt at a smile. Though her wounds visibly healed, the pain would stick around for days. Leira likened the feeling to catching a spray of bullets with a Kevlar vest, while there were no noticeable injuries the impacting rounds still managed to hurt.

Reno winked at her and watched Tseng wince.

"Okay…" The Turk supervisor opened the SOLDIER's mouth and began to feed him the potion. "Hey, Reno. Can you take her somewhere? If she doesn't move her legs they might not heal correctly…"

"Oh…okay." The redhead looked down at Leira then over at Rude who started to help Tseng lower Timal to the ground. "C'mon, kid, let's go."

The Elite was more then a little confused as she grabbed Reno's arm and pulled herself up. "He'll be okay?"

"Of course. He hasn't been dead past the statute." Tseng's eyes never left the SOLDIER as he answered.

It bothered her that his response sounded somewhat emotionless and scripted. "As long as his body is still warm we can revive him."

Reno tugged at her arm and shook his head. "That's a sign that we shouldn't stick around."

"But-"

"Lei, it's okay! They'll call us."

The two left the scene and Rude turned to his boss. "What's up?"

Tseng said nothing until the SOLDIER's fingers moved a little bit. "This man is on Hojo's _other_ list."

"Really?" The bald man asked with great concern. "The Jenova candidate, thingy?"

The head Turk nodded and watched intently as the unconscious man blinked a few times then opened his eyes.

The three men stared at each other, neither saying a word. Timal put his hands to his chest and diverted his gaze to the sky. For better or worse, he was alive. A Zu flew on high overhead so he guessed he was still alive, anyway. "I must still be on this world…" he said to no one in particular.

Tseng cocked an eyebrow and arched his head back. "Why?"

"Because if I were in heaven you guys sure as hell wouldn't be there…and if you were," he pushed a gloved right hand into Tseng's face and raised his upper body off the ground, "you're not what I imagined. You guys have to be the ugliest damn virgins…"

Rude watched the man rise in awe, resisting the urge to pound his face in. Instead, he beat his fists together and said to Tseng, "Boss, I never knew a Phoenix Down could heal a Jenova candidate that completely!"

Timal pushed his hand up Tseng's nose until his palm reached the hairline; then he pushed himself off once he was fully to his feet and straightened his back putting his palms to the top of his buttocks. "Ah." he exhaled and began to walk away.

The man with the long black hair closed his eyes and smiled secretively. "Don't worry, Rude. It can't. He's still human." He said low enough so Rude could hear him.

The SOLDIER gradually twisted at the waist to shoot the men a malicious glare before his knees gave out on him and he crashed to the ground.

"Hmph. I told you." Tseng stood and brushed himself off. "It's only a Phoenix Down; it's not exactly a miracle drug." He sauntered over to the fallen SOLDIER and softly activated his own restore materia. "I don't do this for just anyone." He mumbled after the activation of his materia.

"Thanks." Timal replied snidely and stood once again.

"If we were back in Wutai you'd have been killed on the spot for your disrespect." Tseng told him in his Wutaian tongue while closing his eyes.

The Turk head's words could not have fallen on deafer ears.

"That's some gratitude." Rude said and watched the SOLDIER walk towards Reno and Leira.

Reno stood at the edge of a chasm and stared over the side with Leira snug against his side. "It sure is along way down. We found the body of some poor schumck. Looks like he fell when the bridge collapsed."

"Ooh. Was there any identification on him?" Leira asked.

"Yeah, I've never heard of him before-"

Leira gripped her lover's body tightly as the SOLDIER's voice boomed in the background. "Hey! Wren, why're you over here, dude?!"

"Timmy, what's up? I'll be right back." Reno said regarding Leira for a couple seconds before moving on to meet his friend halfway.

Timal glared at Leira. "Not much, my friend! Not much. You people are cheap ass bastards, though. You know X-Potions are the most cost effective way to go, second only to Elixirs…either that or you guys might want to play around more with your materia mastering…" he looked at Leira one last time before giving Reno his full attention, "or at the very least carry High Potions."

"Hah, look who's talking." Reno playfully punched Timal's shoulder, I got a look at what you were carrying-or should I say _were not_!"

The two men laughed and joked with each other causing Leira to feel left out. She folded her arms and stared out of the canyon. It was sad to think about her fellow Shinra's lives ending by trivial means. Falling off or being dumped from an old suspension bridge was not a glorious way to go.

Timal got closer to Reno and gave him a peck on the cheek. "She something to you?"

Reno grimaced and closed his eyes while putting a hand to the back of his neck. "Well, uh…"

"SOLDER, you still have a reactor to secure." Tseng pushed his way between the two men. "Since the motorcycle is a loss you and Leira will have to ride with us."

The Wutaian SOLDIER was far from enthusiastic as he sat between Tseng and Leira in the backseat.

"Hey, Tseng," Leira asked, "What are we supposed to be finding in the reactor, anyway?"

The head of the Turks stared out the window watching the scenery go by. "The latest reports mentioned Cloud, Sephiroth, and Zack are still missing in action. The SOLDIERs currently positioned at the top can't get in because of some civilian."

"Civilian?" Reno cooed, "Big bad SOLDIERs are having a hard time with one man?"

Timal refrained from hitting the driver and crossed his arms with a scowl decorating his face. He knew the lone civilian's identity, having encountered him hours before the arrival of Midgar's reinforcements.


	19. Descent

Leira stared out her window as they descended the hill in Reno's car. Around turns, she would catch glimpses of his flame red hair in the driver side mirror. She sat back in the bench seat fully relaxed at the sight of his sunglasses covering his eyes. "Nice to see they're finally getting some use." she quipped.

Reno smiled and lifted a hand off the steering wheel to flip her off then returned to his normal driving posture.

Timal rolled his eyes and jabbed Leira in the side. "Hey, hey, you. What did I look like when I died?" His emotionless tone stunned everyone in the car.

Tseng lifted an eyebrow and studied the back of the man's head. The SOLDIER seemed to be intent on hearing the Elite's response to his question more so then anyone else.

Rude turned in his seat to watch the events unfold in the back seat. "You looked like an average dead guy." He answered in Leira's stead.

"You were laid out with your eyes closed, staining Leira's uniform." Tseng said coldly.

"When I want to hear from his royal highness, and goon, I'll be sure to call on you." The SOLDIER told Tseng off in Wutaian.

A couple more minutes went by in silence. No one knew what to say to the other since the original conversation had been derailed so abruptly. Tseng thought himself the only person intrigued by the SOLDIER's subject change. _Idiot was probably responsible for the civilian becoming such a big nuisance in the first place._ He folded his hands in his lap but still watched his fellow countryman.

"Timmy, it's bad enough we had to back track. When we noticed you weren't at the reactor we thought you got Lei killed. Lucky for you we're tight, man." Reno did his best to speak and drive. The area of Mt. Nibel he navigated was a sharp peak with a treacherous spiraling road wrapped around. The Turks had indeed gone out of their way to rescue Leira and Timal.

The SOLDIER brushed his friend off and focused on Leira and again.

"Can you leave me alone? Reno's driving is making me nervous." She spoke as she felt the man's eyes on her.

"Just one question." Timal told her, taking her hand in his.

"What?"

"Do you feel like we are being summoned?"

"We were. Shinra-"

Rude turned in his seat while Tseng looked on.

The SOLDIER sighed. "No not Shinra. Someone else." His grip on her hand tightened. "Someone a little more personal…like we're meant to be here for a greater purpose."

"Tseng?" Reno raised a hand to flag the attention of his boss. "Is that some kind of Wutai belief system? It sounds creepy." His eyes glowed dangerously.

"Pah-leese!" Timal scoffed. "Show's you how much you know about us Wutees, Reno. Tseng's not even the same faith. That son of a bitch was a prince back home till he ran away and that moron Godo took over."

"My family was exiled, you moron! I was only a child when Godo declared war on Shinra-what was I supposed to do?" Tseng had almost reached a breaking point in dealing with the rude SOLDIER. "Will you leave her alone?" he spat in Wutaian.

Reno lowered his eyes briefly and put a hand to his forehead. _Please, Timmy, just do us all a favor and shut up._

Finally, the Mt. Nibel reactor came into view. Being the oldest of the Shinra Electric Power Company's Mako reactor's its appearance was not nearly as streamlined. Its tapered steel body reminded many Shinra of a wedding cake or a rocket from the old space administration. Whatever the case, the party of Turks had arrived in time to see several SOLDIERs waiting for them at its base.

Once more, everyone exited the vehicle. Tseng approached one of the SOLDIERs. "Any new developments?"

"Yes, sir." The man answered and handed Tseng a clipboard. The man in the blue armor turned and pointed at the reactor. "We suspect that Sephiroth, Cloud and Zack are still there as well as two unknown civilians. Hojo sent us word not to interfere. We're supposed to leave this all to you guys."

Tseng flipped through the pages disinterested with what the reports offered. "What about the one troublemaker?"

Another SOLDIER joined the discussion. "Oh, that guy!" he chuckled and pointed at Timal. "The Wuttie over there couldn't handle him so Hojo wanted us to take care of him…until he sent the report out."

"This report?" Tseng asked removing a piece of paper. "This one here; forbidding any SOLDIER entry? What's the point of having anyone here at all, then?"

The dual SOLDIERs shrugged. "That's what we were wondering."

Timal shook his head in disbelief as Tseng ordered Reno and Rude to go into the reactor.

"Lock and load, Rude, it's up to us!" the redhead smiled and removed his electromag rod from his jacket.

The two were almost to the base of the reactor's staircase when Timal grabbed Leira roughly by the arm and dragged her between them. "Me and the chick are going on ahead. This is my fight."

Tseng looked around for a moment and shook his head. "I'm going along."

"Hey, Timmy, what do you need her for?!" Reno shouted after them.

"Sex appeal!" The SOLDIER yelled disappearing into the Nibel rector.

The inside of the aging reactor looked like a poorly lit obstacle course. Timal dug his gloved fingers into Leira's arm one more time then dropped it.

"OW, ow, ow!" She screamed in pain and rolled up her sleeve to asses the damage. Red finger shaped welts were beginning to disappear.

The SOLDIER disregarded her and turned a couple times to inspect his surroundings then looked down.

A thin black platform suspended the two high above the reactor's core.

"You heard the SOLDIERs back there, didn't you? We're not supposed to be here. Let's go back."

"No." Timal responded.

"You don't even know where we're going." Leira shot back.

Suddenly, the SOLDIER noticed two thin pipes extending from the underside of the platform. "Hey, look! It's a bridge!"

"That hardly looks safe." Leira crossed her arms at her chest and watched as the man effortlessly made it to the other side.

"Ah, c'mon, honey. You're a big bad Elite. Don't be such a chicken shit."

"I want to wait for Tseng!" she called after him. "We are not supposed to be doing this."

"Whatever." The tall Wutaian laughed to himself before figuring out the next section of the path. His narrow eyes rested on a tiny switch panel. "Will you get over here? I think this part is an elevator."

Leira found she far from enthusiastic upon hearing the SOLDIER's discovery. Whereas the platform she stood on was metal and sturdy, the tiny portion beneath the SOLDIER was nothing more then thinly cut wooden planks that looked like they had seen better days.

"Yo! Are you comin'?" he yelled after her and pointed at the area before his boots. "Room for one more, toots!"

Leira shrugged and looked over her shoulder. Tseng was nowhere in sight. With a sigh of defeat, she swallowed her remaining pride and joined the SOLDIER.

"That's it all aboard! Level three: missing Shinra, darkness, who knows what, and lady's lingerie!" he chortled and pressed the button to activate the elevator.

Steadily, the platform made its drop into the reactor. Doing her best to disguise her fear, Leira inched her body closer to Timal. She kept the faceplate of her helmet away from him and embraced herself. Leira stopped her backing when she felt his left hand through her uniform.

A large pipe ran through the stonewall directly across from them creating a type of waterfall. _The water and…Mako mix_, she assumed, _must be keeping the core of the reactor cool. _Cautiously, she craned her neck in order to view their awaiting destination better.

"Don't stick your neck out too far." Timal said cagily and knuckled the rear flap of her uniform's skirting, "You're liable to fall."

Leira did her best not to hit him. "Or be pushed; gee thanks you, moron!"

The sound the elevator emitted was less then music to her ears. While her companion hummed a strange little Wutaian ditty, she clenched her fists and thighs together as the lift squealed and rattled. The closer they got to the core the more the mobile platform bucked. Leira was terrified the thing would shake apart and dump them into the watery Mako below.


	20. The Heart Of The Reactor

Before the platform landed, the SOLDIER pushed Leira to the side and hopped off with several feet to spare. He landed in a squatting position, knees bent and wide apart, flatfooted and buttocks floating a couple inches off the ground with a tinny sounding **thoom**. He reached into a back pocket and removed a small device. Holding it at arms length, he swiped from left to right and finally stood up.

"What are you doing?" Leira asked leaning over with her hands on her knees. She landed and nervously stepped off falling in behind Timal.

Without a word, he tossed the device over his shoulder leaving her to catch it.

"Just checking for life signs. There's some irregular warmth over there." He pointed into some place in the distance and shook his head.

"So you found something, then?" Leira snatched the tool out of the air and pushed a button. She hoped she did not let on how unfamiliar she was with the contraption. It looked like a large pocket calculator, only with three buttons and a tiny monitor. "I can't tell anything from this. How you do know where the heat signatures are coming from?"

The man's head lowered and his hands came up to rest on his hips. "Oh, I don't know. That busted railing and the trail of blood heading off toward that strangely lit room might be a clue."

Sure enough, he was right. Leira dropped the tiny gadget in shock and hurriedly pushed a button on the side of her helmet, triggering a small beam of light to shine through her visor.

The pair's landing place was the top of a huge pipe extending from one side of the reactor to another. The only thing that kept them from going over the sides was a very thing double railing rusted by age and the harsh elements inside the reactor.

A huge section of the guardrail was torn and pushed outward.

Sluggishly, the platform lifted and traveled back to the top abandoning the two Shinra agents.

The SOLDIER whistled softly and turned to look at her while he scratched at the inside of his ear. "What do you think happened here?"

From the ripped rail, a trail of large drying blood splotches extended to the other side. It looked like some form of struggle had taken place causing the guardrail to break. Why the huge amount of blood? Neither of them was prepared to hazard a guess.

Leira went into Elite mode. "Let's go."

Timal pinched the bridge of his nose. "Yes, ma'am," he muttered under his breath scraping his toy off the ground and tucking it back into his pocket.

The pair clonked along the rotting brown pipe paying no mind to the rushing water below them. Leira figured that mentioning her fear of heights to him would be a hefty admittance of vulnerability. She pressed on with a gloved hand grazing the handrail. Thankfully, her helmet hid her fear and her continuous gulping.

"You don't like heights, do you?" The man's voice asked with a hint of concern.

"What do you think that other room is for? Aren't reactors only supposed to have that one back room?"

Timal put his head back. "How the hell-hey!" He stopped in his tracks as the beam of light from the Elite's helmet landed on a lump at the very edge of the catwalk.

Leira and her SOLDIER companion sprinted to the end and surrounded the limp form. She clicked off her helmet's light and removed it. "Who is that?!"

A man lay on the ground face down in a pool of blood.

"I don't know. Can't say for sure…but I don't think that mess over there was his."

"Then who?" The Elite knelt beside the corpse. His hair was dark brown and his skin extremely pale. He was dressed in in blue slacks, a plaid shirt and blue denim vest. _What would an ordinary man be doing in a Shinra reactor?_

The sound of footsteps captured Leira's attention. A little beam of light flicked about and drew nearer and nearer. By the time she turned around, the SOLDIER was already off to confront the intruder. "Geez, think with your head not your fists, you goon." she spat to herself.

"That's as far as you go!" Timal shouted and removed his gemmed pistol from the holster hanging at his hip.

The footsteps stopped but the light continued to move, ultimately bypassing the big man and resting on Leira. "You've found Mr. Lockheart. That's good." Tseng's voice seemed to emanate from the tiny yellow light.

"Yeah, he's gone," Timal grudgingly responded. "We don't think the blood on the catwalk is his though."

"No?"

Leira got to her feet and entered the strange chamber. The area around her was very well lighted with red walls and row upon row of strange metallic pods.

While Tseng continued his conversation with Timal, she took it upon herself to continue her investigation. She pulled a lanyard out of her belt and attached it to a tiny tab inside her helmet. There was no sense in carelessly leaving her head protection behind.

With every deliberate step, she examined each tank. Every contraption had a clear window. The only problem was the porthole like glass was high above her eye level. If she wanted to view the interior, she would have to climb it. As a little girl, she avoided climbing on top of anything that was taller then herself. While she did not consider herself a "girly girl" by any means, she made it her motto to be safe rather than sorry. As gingerly as she could, she trekked from one pod to the next; keeping her eyes on them in case anyone hid behind. Something off in the distance, a few rows up, caught her eye. One container seemed to have a liquid of some sort, trickling down. While the odd color caused her to lean in closer, her left foot struck something below triggering a low moan.

Leira stiffened, trying her hardest to keep her head up and not look down. _It's just the floor._ She repeated to herself. The more she tried to stay calm the louder the moan.

"Uuuuuh-" the voice trailed.

She pressed her back to the tank and kept her eyes averted, heart pounding beneath her chest. Scared witless, she moved backward.

The awful moan persisted and something grabbed her foot then steadily moved up her leg. "Uuuuuuh…"

"OHMIGAWD!" she shouted and looked down.

Another man was lying on the ground, staring up at her. He was injured and bleeding badly but Leira did not care. As fast as she could she ran out of the room in reverse determined to escape as well as not be followed.

"Whaff!"

Leira whirled around and two hands grabbed her above the elbows. Quite by accident, she ended up plowing into Timal.

The hefty Wutaian glared at her with tremendous revulsion for half a second then looked behind her. "Looks like she found Cloud!"

The poor girl did a double take, staring at Timal then over to the injured foot soldier then back again. "Cloud! Ohmigawd!" She knelt in front of the blonde youth and placed her hands on his shoulders. All the boy could do was make crackling sounds and loll his head from side to side. Dried blood stained his face, uniform, and spiky hair.

"What's wrong? What happened?" Leira asked him with growing concern.

The SOLDIER pushed her aside and ripped a potion from his uniform. "He's going through shock, that's what!" He shouted and force-fed the amber liquid to the boy. "You don't have to be damned genius to recognize that!"

"I'm sorry!" Leira apologized.

Tseng held a hand out to her and helped her to her feet. "It's okay. You weren't trained for this type of run. First Class Klefmon, send word to Nibelheim control and let them know we've found one member of Sephiroth's party."

The SOLDIER rolled his eyes and sat cross-legged beside Cloud Strife. "I'm monitoring his life signs, you do it yourself."

Tseng winced at his rudeness and shook his head, pushing in a tiny button on his watch. "Tseng to Nibelheim control. We have found officer Cloud Strife and Lockhart senior."

"We read you, Tseng. What are their conditions?" A grating masculine voice responded.

"Cloud Strife was administered a potion by SOLDIER First Class Klefmon but is still critical. Lockhart, on the other hand, is dead."

"We've got a team on its way to meet you. Have you found the guide, Sephiroth or the other SOLDIER yet?" Tseng did not answer.

"So where do you think we are?" Leira asked her former supervisor.

He suddenly found himself deep in thought. He had been over the reports dozens of times. Never once was any form of chamber mentioned. In truth, he was as dumbfounded as the Elite. "What has Hojo been up to all these years?" He ended up asking aloud.

"Huh?" Out of the corner of his eye, the Wutaian Turk noticed movement from behind one of the containers.

Timal jumped to his feet and skimmed over each canister. "I don't see a thing."

"No. I see it, too." Leira concurred.


	21. Cure For The Itch

Title inspired by the Linkin Park song "Cure For The Itch." Lyrics taken from the Linkin Park song "Cure For The Itch."

Folks, we have a very special guest for you tonight I'd like to introduce: Mr. Hahn

Back left. Right back. Bend at the waist. Jump! Squat! "OW, OW, **_OW_**!!" The punches alone from this man were hard enough to break the visor of her helmet. In an attempt to dodge a reverse crescent kick her lanyard swung away only to be severed by his kick.

Leira stumbled and landed with one knee to the ground. Looking up into the face of her attacker, she coughed and brought her fists up to offer protection for herself.

A much older man, probably in his sixties, wiped off his nose using his right wrist. "You don't have the technique to fight me." In spite of his heavy breathing, his voice carried a tone no different from a teacher instructing his worst student. The Turk Elite turned her head and inconspicuously studied her former boss before focusing her attention on her attacker once more.

Tseng stood above Timal, who was squatting beside an unconscious Cloud Strife. The Turk head furiously scribbled notes on his clipboard while the SOLDIER listed every conceivable health condition affecting the boy. It was Leira's task to subdue and exterminate the elderly martial arts instructor, identified by Timal, as Zangan along with his star pupil-the injured Tifa Lockheart.

While the Shinra team was surprised to find the two deep inside the Mount Nibel reactor they figured it a blessing to dodge the burden of combing the entire continent in search of them.

In one fluid motion, she sprung off the hard ground and snapped into an airborne left thrust kick aimed for her prey's face.

Zangan's eyes widened as the flat black sole of her boot missed his rosy round nose. He backed off, alternately lifting his right and left arm, and sped into her body, his upper body parallel to the floor. In the blink of an eye, he lunged in with a left knife-hand strike. Leira feinted left and leaned as far back as she could, her right forearm went out instinctively to block…nothing but air.

Zangan kicked right then left. The Elite found herself impressed by the elderly man's moves. In her training sessions with Norelliies, she learned the strongest and fastest strikes were often denoted by the sound of clothes snapping upon rapid extension of arm or leg. Following up with a high knee to her midsection, he caught her and lifted her off the ground and a crushing right back-fist to her face.

Leira's body sailed backwards through the air for several feet until gravity pulled the back of her head down in a dangerous arc, leaving her legs to pass over and careen to the ground in a heap. Pain surged through every part of her being as she lay face down, immobile.

Tseng pried his eyes from his records long enough to witness Leira's bone crunching defeat. He was just about to set the board down when the SOLDIER placed his hands on his knees and stood upright.

The old white haired man stepped back a couple paces as soon as he got a look at the SOLDIERs eyes. He fixed his brown burlap looking shorts and shirt and brushed his long wavy red cape behind him. "You, you're one of them!"

Timal blinked at him but said nothing. Someone was forever saying how he looked like something; part of this or that; being from Wutai or being a SOLDIER, always branded.

"You're one of them. A SOLDIER yet a strong proud Wutaian!"

The tall SOLDIER rolled his eyes. _I knew it._

"No no, sir. You would be honor bound to assist your female friend just as I. You'll let us pass…"

Timal lowered his chin and tilted his head to watch the aged man attempt to recover his student. "Hnnh, really." He scratched the back of his head. "Just because I happen to be Wutaian."

Zangan stopped and turned to regard him with a curious glare. "I mean no…"

"Don't talk to me of honor!" Timal was on the verge of snapping. He folded his arms under his chest plate, "My guess is the chick uses fighting techniques that don't belong to her."

"What?!" Zangan was beside himself filled with trepidation. "I teach the martial arts-You would use such a disrespectful word to-"

"As I said 'don't talk to me of honor.'" Timal crouched low and cracked his knuckles.

"I regret our nation passing regulations filled with rubbish to hinder others in their learning of a foreign culture." Zangan paused to smile faintly, "At the very least I feel this fight of ours will test our Wutaian styles."

Timal rubbed his nose on his wrist then bolted upright. "Heh," he smiled and began an introductory kata, leaping into the air with a flying roundhouse kick before landing in split. Pushing himself off the ground, his left leg moved backward to join with his right then executed a right rear kick and a left forward punch. Spinning backward on one foot, he jumped up slapped his shoulders with his hands then stretched his left hand out to the side palm facing outward. His head jolted to the left and his right automatically cocked beneath his chest. With a slap, his right elbow and left palm slammed together. He dropped to one knee then extended his arms as far apart as he could. Jumping into the air once more, he put himself into a crane stance with his right foot tucked behind his left knee. Crossing his left arm over his chest, he swept gracefully at the air and loosed his right hand parting his fingers into a snakehead strike.

The SOLDIER's movements were very smooth and fluid leaving Zangan in a state of shock. He had to get Tifa out of the reactor. The potions salvaged from the remains of the general store were to be used sparingly; the road out of Nibelheim was dangerous even before the increase in Shinra activities. "Are you done?" Zangan gulped passing glances from Tifa's limp form to the tall muscular SOLDIER. "Kata is something you do on your time, not when you fight." For all it was worth, he hoped his words would serve as a distraction. In his heart, the champion fighter knew kata was a blue print for all fighting styles; he did not mean his insolence and prayed the ancient fighting spirits would forgive him.

Timal stopped and bent slightly at the knees. "Let's see what you've got, old man!"

"Brash and cocky, you'll wish you left me alone!" Zangan purred stroking his mustache.

__

Let's hear it for the great Mr. Hahn

Like a bolt of lightning Timal made a dash for the elderly man with an extended fist. Zangan dodged and blocked the strike with a right elbow and stuck out with a right snap kick aimed for his attacker's belt line.

Timal kicked left and off balanced Zangan enough to spin him around. He wrapped his right arm around his neck and pulled the man down. The legendary fighter reached around, jabbed the SOLDIER's neck with one hand, and then dug his fingers into his spine with the other.

Timal coughed and released his grip then dropped to one knee kicking at Zangan's ankles with his outstretched right foot.

Tseng watched the two battle briefly, than recited a cure spell to further heal the fallen foot soldier, Cloud Strife. Pushing his long black hair behind his right ear, he wondered why the boy remained unconscious. _Could it be some kind of brain damage? How is Hojo going to take this? _He shook off his fear and knelt beside Leira who landed at the other side of the room, face down. Carefully, he offered his cure spell and waited silently for her to move. He put a hand to her neck and checked his watch timing how long it took for her pulse and breathing to steady.

Leira gasped and shifted to lay on her back, eye to eye with the Turk head.

"You okay, Thompson?"

"Ughh…" was all she could mutter in response.

Tseng smiled at her and removed his navy blue blazer. In truth, he was relieved she awakened for more reasons then one. The site of the no-holds-barred match between Zangan and Timal, less then ten feet away, made him pine for the freedom of his childhood picking fights with whomever he chose long before taking his position as the head of the Turks.

Zangan dealt Timal a hefty body check to the ribs then kicked him away. As quickly as he could he rejoined his barely breathing student, administered a potion, and lifted her into his arms. His idea was to hold the girl before the young Wutaian SOLDIER thereby forcing him to remember the moral values of his homeland.

Timal stumbled but quickly regained his balance just as Zangan was about to attempt an escape. "What's wrong, old man?" The SOLDIER smiled and held his fists level to his chest.

The old man sighed and shook his head. "I don't want to fight you. I don't have the time." He regarded Tifa with a light sigh before setting her on the ground propped against one of the strange Shinra canisters.

Tseng could contain his excitement no more, his clipboard crashed to the ground while his fingers fumbled with the buttons of his blazer in a desperate attempt to shuck it off. Suddenly, a rustling alerted him to Leira's presence.

The Elite did her best to stand but was only able to work herself into a wobbly squat. Tseng was against Leira's endeavor to rejoin the battle so he maneuvered himself to her front with his back to her. "Leave it to the pros," he said with a hint of sarcasm.

Losing her balance, she plopped down on her rear and watched the men fight. Timal's moves seem so professional and elegant it was hard for her to believe they could stem from such a crude, loud, and rude individual. The extension of his long legs with each kick, the force of his blows as they crashed against the aged instructor, something continued to pique the curiosity she harbored for him.

"You…" Zangan dropped his shoulders and put his hands on his hips, "Men like you are part of such a noble culture. How-"

The SOLDIER removed his black shooting gloves and Zu beaten light blue Kevlar jacket, wearing nothing more then his sleeveless royal blue turtleneck, shredded pants and knee high Costa Del Sol issue combat boots. Unbeknownst to Timal, his materia laden sidearm fell from a compartment in the coat's interior only to land on the concrete and be smothered by his uniform. "Men like me are here to kick your ass!" He rushed the elderly fighter and threw a strong left thrust punch followed by a right snap kick.

Zangan feinted to the right well out of the range of Timal's kick only to be caught by a left spinning heel kick. He did his best to block but the SOLDIER upped the ante with a barrage of punches aimed straight for his head and solar plexus. Suddenly, something clicked and he was able to notice a pattern forming. His attacker was several inches taller then himself, which caused his blows to connect possibly higher then intended. To test his theory he dropped to his knees narrowly missing several quick blows.

Zangan put his face between Timal's thighs wrapping his arms around them. With a strong tug, he managed to use the man's own height and weight against him. As expected, the SOLDIER started to topple. Zangan hopped up and kicked his opponent in the head to drop the Wutaian quicker. "Please, please-just let me take her out of here! She's done nothing to any of you! She's dying!" He pleaded while wiping sweat from his brow.

Timal bit his lip trying to figure out how he was so easily dropped. He raised his arms above his head bent his elbows, allowing his bare palms to lay flat on the ground. He hefted his legs to form an acute angle with his body before arching his back and thrusting his feet out to correct himself.

Leira watched the dim lighting reflect off the tall man's sweat soaked brown skin. She found herself astounded by his combat skills and somewhat envious at the same time. It hurt to see how worthless her Shinra unarmed fighting lessons were.

"Our orders were 'no witnesses', old man, sorry!" Timal taunted with fake remorse.

Tseng knew the longer the SOLDIER fought, the cockier he would become. If he stayed on the sidelines and did nothing, there was a good chance the old man would escape with Tifa Lockheart. The Turk boss was not about to throw his position or his employers into that kind of jeopardy. He quickly slid his blazer off, letting it slip to the ground and pulled his hair into a tight ponytail.

By the time he finished wrapping a rubber band scavenged from his pants pocket around his smooth raven black mane, he noticed Timal backed into a corner. Tseng knew his fellow Shinra operative was in a desperate position.

"Tseng?" Leira questioned studying him from head to toe.

Her former boss briefly looked at her, offering a small smile before launching himself into the air in a powerful leap.

__

And now a lesson in Rhythm management. Let's begin.

The pale-skinned Turk boss flew in with fists blazing, completely catching both combatants off guard. It had been a long time since he had joined in anything physical; usually all it took to get the job done was a gun to his victim's head.

Timal caught a blow, from Zangan, and backed out. With the SOLDIER temporarily out of the picture, Zangan dove for the ground and scooped up some loose dirt.

Tseng elbowed the instructor in the ribs and raised his knee, primed to land a hard axe kick when the dirt released. '_So much for being honor bound.' _He thought to himself furiously wiping his face and eyes. Slowly he moved away to try to recoup but ended up backing into Timal.

The SOLDIER placed his hands on Tseng's shoulders to push him out of the way. "I'll step in for a bit," he told him in their shared language.

Zangan stood still. His facial expression conveyed nothing more then absolute horror. Timal was unsure of what to make of his prey until he followed his gaze to a point somewhere behind-

"You! I know you! Long ago! No wonder your fighting style is so different from his!" Zangan blurted out to Tseng.

The Turk managed to clear out enough dirt to open his watery eyes. He glanced around before he realized what was going on.

Leira seemed to be the only one conscious who was completely confused. "What is he talking about?"

"I told you all before about Tseng!" Timal barked and flipped her off.

Tseng bent forward and placed his hands on his knees. "My name is Tseng."

Zangan stared at the red dot above the bridge of the man's nose. "But-your parents! What happened to-?"

Both the Turk and SOLDIER converged on Zangan. Tseng hopped into the area and tilted slightly to release a devastating hurricane kick to the neck while Timal went low to wrestle the man to the ground.

Tseng landed with his knees bent and arms spread out to the side. "My name is Tseng," he calmly repeated.

Timal pulled Zangan up by his collar and smiled. "Can I kill him now?"

__

All right now, wasn't that fun?

The old man was tired and scared of what might happen to his student. In a last ditch attempt at escape he wove his right arm between Timal's wrists and grabbed it with his left hand. By the time the SOLDIER figured out what was going on Zangan had exploited the iron grip by smashing his forearm into the other's thumbs, spun around and dealt a somewhat off balanced hammer fist to his throat.

Tseng leapt in but paused to catch a horribly telegraphed kick. The poor old man panted heavily and gulped as Timal moved in. After researching both men's stances and their levels of exhaustion, Zangan was able to concoct a plan.

__

Let's try something else

He fired a lazy left roundhouse kick in Timal's direction, aimed for the head.

As predicted, the kick was caught by the SOLDIER so he kicked again with his free leg.

Tseng caught the kick this time. As Zangan crashed rearward to the ground, he prayed both men would continue to hold his legs. Hurriedly, he arched his back and extended his arms to throw himself into a handstand. With a slight wriggle, he ripped his legs free and rolled backwards between the Shinra agents.

They immediately rushed to recover Zangan only to bump each other in the face.

Timal grabbed his nose while Tseng concerned himself with his throbbing forehead.

"Oh, fuck!" the tall SOLDIER whined as blood began to drip from his nostrils.

"Idiot!" Tseng scolded.

Both men turned away from each other leaving Zangan a gap to squeeze through. With a tremendous jump, he lifted straight off the ground and spread his legs far enough apart to kick the two in the chest.

Leira watched as her coworkers landed collapsed to the ground and lay still. Her eyes shifted to something shiny nearly covered by Timal's discarded jacket. Suddenly, it dawned on her- "His gun!" she whispered to herself.

While Zangan preoccupied himself with Tifa, Leira crawled over to Timal's weapon, brushed the armor off it, checked the magazine, and then readied herself to fire. _At the very least, he'll gain some skill points for his materia._

"That's as far as you go! Drop the girl or be dropped!" Leira shouted before Zangan could make an exit.

Leira got to her feet and began to walk towards the elderly teacher and his wounded student. Two feet into her advance a loud shriek pierced the light industrious hum of the reactor. The sound seemed to be coming from somewhere behind her, somewhere behind the canisters. She clenched the weapon tight in her hands and diverted her attention away from Zangan accidentally leaving him room to make his escape.

"Who's there?!"


	22. Finding The Nightmare Creature

"Get me _down_! Aaaah-ugggh…get me down!" A voice boomed somewhere inside the room.

Leira fired off a round in the approximate direction then paused to survey the tanks from her position. There was something familiar about the tone, from a recent past, maybe. She fired again when things grew quiet to coax the stranger into announcing himself again.

"I come in peace! Peace, I tell you! Help me! I need a medic!!"

By the time her "request" was fulfilled Timal and Tseng were awake and alert. Cloud Strife lay on his back staring up into space, his mouth hung open as a sound somewhere between a gurgle and click escaped his throat.

Tseng rose and skimmed the area torn between tracking down the owner of the voice and watching over Cloud. Before he could make a judgment call, Leira was at his side sweeping the area with her eyes.

"Thompson, stay here with Cloud!" Tseng fixed his long red tie and removed the rubber band from his hair. "I'm going to look around."

Leira never got a chance to protest as her former boss pushed by her, headed for the centermost staircase separating the strange pods into rows. "Be careful." she said shyly unsure of what his reaction would be to her concern.

The Elite kept the handgun pointing in Tseng's direction to provide cover fire in case he needed it. Without any warning, a bare hand flew into her line of vision and yanked the gun out of her hands.

"Girls shouldn't be allowed to use weapons…'specially not other people's side-arms!"

Leira was so shocked by the swift disarming her hands were still straight out in front of her face; finger pressed against an imaginary trigger. _He's fast!_

With an unintelligible growl, Timal dashed up the stairs until he was able to catch up to Tseng. "So now what do we do?" he asked scanning each tank as he loomed over the shoulder of his fellow countryman.

Tseng paused and dropped his shoulders as his eyes fell on a huge pipe attached to the back wall. JENOVA was written in huge red letters spanning the entire length of the long metal tube. "'_We_' do nothing. You stay here and back me up. You have effective materia in that handgun of yours, I presume. _I _am going to locate our wounded 'friend.'"

Timal twisted his handsome face into a soured look and shook his head in disbelief. Tseng paid him no mind glancing from left to right than climbing higher and higher up the stairs, abandoning the SOLDIER, until he reached the last row of pods. Eyes filled with concentration, his head leisurely traveled from left to right. Aisles and aisles of nothing but shiny tanks arranged in an almost stadium seating-like posture. Tseng's mind played over the arrangement in a strange dichotomy of nothing out of the ordinary yet everything, the entire room, was out of the ordinary. In an instant, his eyes stuck on a misshapen row of tanks. One of the mysterious pods in the center row seemed to have split in half and spilled some form of gray mass onto the concrete.

The Turk edged his way back to the main staircase and began his descent.

Timal stood silent as the Turk boss brushed against him and made his turn into the aisle.

Closer and closer. Tseng was almost upon his target. "Something so big, how could I have missed it?" he whispered to himself in damnation. "EAAAAEW!" he coughed and covered his mouth with his hands as a powerfully pungent odor wafted its way into his nostrils. The scent was so strong it briefly interrupted his regular breathing as it coated his tongue and made him gag in disgust. Somewhere between the stench of garbage and death, Tseng's senses were raped despite his stopping several feet away from the object of curiosity. "OOOAH!" He turned his head and gagged a little more feeling the warm acidic taste of bile mixed with puke travel through his esophagus and gather in his mouth. "MMmmmph!"

Spleeeergh

Tseng turned his head sharply to the right and bent forward vomiting up his lunch from so many hours ago. "SOLDIER! SOLDIER!" he yelled furiously wiping at his face to remove chunks of escaped food particles and saliva.

Timal, who was earlier bored to the point of contemplating the meaning of his toes, snapped to attention. He located Tseng close to thirty feet away waving his arms in the air.

In no time at all the tall SOLDIER was beside him standing in-

"Eeew! Lost your lunch, eh…" he choked and quickly placed his thumb and forefinger over his nose pinching his nasal passageway shut. "What died?!" In an instant, his focus on what he was standing in vanished as Tseng, again, left him behind to stand over a hairy grey mass. By the time he approached, the Turk was squatting over the slashed and decapitated remains of a creature neither man had ever seen before.

"That…mmmmph…died…" Tseng said and pointed to the decaying oddity while trying to stop himself from dry heaving.

"What do you think it is?" Timal got down on one knee and carefully leaned over the hulking corpse.

"Your guess is as good as mine." Tseng replied. For some reason he and the SOLDIER found themselves speaking completely in Wutaian due to the lack of basic terms to adequately describe what lay on the ground.

The deceased grey-skinned creature was long and muscular with splotches of thick fur decorating its head, underarms, chest buttocks and pubic area. Huge pointy white teeth littered the scene; Tseng assumed they belonged to the monster.

Timal decided to reach in to compare his hand size against the creature's. He was amazed to find, despite being almost human in appearance, the monster's fingernails were almost three times the size of his own while the fleshy digits alone were hideously elongated and sinewy.

Out of the corner of his eye, Tseng spotted Leira's blue form still holding position on the bottom level. He was about to call out to her when a beeping sound pierced the awkward silence befalling both men. He watched her walk to the left then disappear as she came back only to move to the far right. After some careful thinking, he determined the location of her busted helmet. _She must have received a call from the outside unit._ Which one, Tseng was unsure; whether it was the team stationed outside the reactor or the rest of her original unit back in the burning village. Answers were forthcoming as he heard her yell his name.

"Tseng!" She shouted, "Reno and Rude have Zangan stopped! He still has Tifa! Wren keeps babbling about changed orders and how badly Hojo wants them alive! What do I say?"

Leira fidgeted, never forgetting the presence of someone else hiding close by and prayed for Tseng's speedy reply.

Tseng closed his eyes and sighed. Finding himself at quite a crossroads, he determined the best course of action would actually violate his previous orders. "Tell Reno," he turned to look at Timal, "just let them go."

The SOLDIER stared at the gray creature on the ground and gritted his teeth at his Wutaian "brother." Did this man truly know what he was about to do? He decided to take him up on it. Grabbing Tseng by the shirt collar he slammed him into the side of the closest container. "Let them go? Are you nuts? You're putting my ass on the line as well as your own, stupid Turk!"

Tseng closed his eyes on impact and grabbed the SOLDIER's wrists. "Do yourself a favor and get your hands off me."


End file.
